Traditional 'DNA tests' confirm paternity

DRAMA recently erupted at Acting Chief Saunyama's court after a toddler became the subject of traditional "DNA tests".

The tests were done by a group of elderly women.

The father of the baby, Takunda Bhinzi Katerere, had refused paternity of the child after being influenced by his mother who was against his union with Oprah Nyagadza.

The elderly women confidently said they could establish the child's paternity by examining his physical features and comparing them with those of the alleged father and his siblings.

After the ‘DNA test', the three women agreed that Katerere sired the child beyond any reasonable doubt and tried to persuade him to take back his wife and child.

Said one of them, Gogo Jessica Mufura: "This child is yours. Look at your palms, they look alike. This method was used for years by our forefathers and has stood the test of time. Even your faces look alike. You should look after your child because he is your blood."

This was after Nyagadza had dragged Katerere to the community court, accusing him and his mother of labelling her a woman of loose morals and sending her packing.

"My mother-in-law never liked me. She accused me of sleeping with three other men, and said the child is not her son's. As a result, her son sent me packing and denied paternity, even though the days that I conceived and his birthday tallied. He accused me of sleeping with Evidence Chiro, who is his cousin," said Nyagadza.

She said despite being 20 years old, her mother-in-law was going around telling people that she is 25 years old and older than her son.

"I do not know why she hates me so much. She hates me to the extent of telling her son that if he does not divorce me, she will not pay for his tertiary education fees as he is currently doing a Mechanical Engineering course," she said.

Katerere insisted that the child was not his, and told the court that he had evidence that Nyagadza cheated on him with many men.

He, however, also confirmed being influenced by his mother to send her packing as she wanted him to complete his education first.

"There was a lot of friction in my family and I had to choose, so I chose my family over her. The truth is that I really wanted to complete my education since my parents were paying for it. She was also very disrespectful to my elderly grandmother. She would let her do all the chores while she slept, so I just felt that it was better if we parted ways, but I loved her. I took advantage of rumours that she has been sleeping around in my absence. I then suspected that the child was not mine," said Katerere.

The court ordered him to look for US$500 to pay for medical DNA tests, and the cornered Katerere confessed fathering the child.

He said there was no need for medical DNA tests as he was content with what the elderly women had concluded.

"The child is mine, I have realised that. I am really sorry for the way I acted all along. The child is mine and there is no need for such tests. I would rather channel that money towards paying lobola for my wife than undergoing the DNA tests. I would also like to apologise to my father-in-law, everything happened because I was young and did not know what I was doing. Please forgive me," he said.

However, Nyagadza's father would not have it and insisted on DNA tests to be conducted.

He pledged to pay for the tests and said his son-in-law would remain indebted to him if it is proved that he is the father of the child.

"I do not care whether he now wants my daughter or not. All I want is to know is the father of this child. After that, I will take care of my daughter while the father of the child in question takes care of his own child. If they do not want to take care of their baby, I will also look after him. We cannot throw him away just because of his father's negligence," charged Nyagadza.

Acting Chief Saunyama ordered the parties to go for DNA tests and avail the results today (Friday).

"It is clear that the Katerere family influenced their son to divorce his wife and deny paternity of his baby. The young man has decided to take back his wife and stop the DNA tests.

"However, DNA tests should be done and by the next court date, results should be available for us to make a decision. We cannot have families supporting their sons go around impregnating girls and then influence them to dump them," ruled Acting Chief Saunyama.