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Ruth Butaumocho Gender Forum
Paternity test results for Fortunate (Tafadzwa) Mapako and sungura ace Alick Macheso’s two kids were released last week, putting an end to weeks of speculation and anxiety. The two had probably been living on the edge, following a media debacle that attracted massive interest from ordinary Zimbabweans.

Tafadzwa naturally was elated with the results, which she said vindicated her.
They put to rest allegations which had been levelled against her by some of Macheso’s sympathisers who claimed she was not even the mother of the two children.

But probably the most shocking response came from Macheso’s lawyers, who threw a salvo at the other side, claiming that they were not happy with the results owing to “irregularities” which they had noted.

That comment from Macheso’s camp simply meant that Macheso remains unconvinced that the two children are his, and somewhat sought to dismiss the medical process the two underwent to ascertain their parentage.

His lawyer’s response to the results also raises a number of issues on their client’s understanding of the paternity process, his relationship with Tafadzwa on issues of trust, and his future relationship with his children once they are mature enough to understand the processes their parents went through to ascertain their parentage.

Macheso’s response again raises morality and responsibility issues as a father and a role model, because of his social status as a musician.
Was Macheso so shocked with the outcome of the results that he still doesn’t believe that the children are indeed his, or he is trying to save face, especially after the abrasive comments and innuendos he made on Tafadzwa’s “alleged wayward behaviour”?

By referring to “irregularities” was he trying to suggest that the process was so flawed that he becomes the father of Tafadzwa’s two children by default owing to a “serious and flawed technical laboratory process”?

Why did he agree to care for the children when he suspected that they were not his?
The National Blood Transfusion Services of Zimbabwe (NBTSZ) has on a number of occasions highlighted that the process cannot be manipulated, as many would want the world to believe.

With 70 percent of men contesting paternity and willing to pay for DNA tests being found not to be the fathers, some wondered if there was any manipulation possible while others pointed out that the group going all out to disprove paternity was part of a small minority who were fairly certain to start with that they were not the father.

NBTSZ, which handles the samples before they are taken to South Africa for testing, has detailed the complex procedures followed to ensure there can be no manipulation.

Explaining the process late last year, the NBTSZ said on the day assigned to the clients, it is a requirement that the mother, the alleged father and the child/baby, are all present at the same time at the premises of the NBSZ in Mazowe Street, Harare. The mother has to confirm the identity of the alleged father and similarly the alleged father has to identify the mother.

“All identity documents are checked and photographs of each person taken and each signs on the other confirming that indeed that is the mother or alleged father. The mother identifies the child and produces the birth certificate of the child or the child produces his ID if over 16 years of age.
“Specimens are drawn from each of the individuals in the presence of each other and put on a blotting paper supplied by the laboratory in South Africa, which is then put in the courier bag in their presence, sealed and immediately sent to the courier for onward transmission to South Africa,” NBTSZ was recently quoted explaining in the media.

I believe it is the same process that the two underwent, as the fight for maintenance of the children gathered momentum a month ago.
So we wonder what kind of irregularities Macheso and his camp were referring to in relation to the results.

Why did they not raise the concerns when they went through the process before specimens were sent to South Africa?
What I am not sure of is whether Macheso was going to react differently had the results come out negative, indicating that he was not the father of the children.

The predicament that Macheso finds himself in following the outcome of the results, though isolated, is not a unique one.
On several occasions, men have requested for paternity tests to ascertain the parentage of children premised on the Shona adage that “chinoziva ivhu kuti mwana wembeva arikurwara”, which loosely translated means the mother is best person who knows who the real father of a child is.

There are men who for various reasons genuinely question the paternity a child and the only way they put their mind to rest is by having the test done.

In quite a number of cases, some of the men have had their doubts vindicated as the test results have proved they are not the fathers.
Of course, it goes without saying that some of the men have ended up with egg on their face when the results show that they indeed fathered the child whom they were loudly and publicly disowning.

And a theory on the ground has shown that sometimes men who question paternity results are simply running away from the responsibilities that come with fathering a child.

In all fairness, if Macheso was harbouring those doubts that he was the father of the children for four years, but still managed to care for their upkeep, he should continue to do the same, especially now that he has been declared the real father.

It is sheer malice on his part to question a medically proven report pointing to him as the father when for years he rode on mere assumptions, but still carried out the fatherly duties for the two.

Rather than raise dust and create an issue out of nothing, Macheso needs to be conciliatory in his approach, by measuring up to his task of being a responsible father.

Macheso and other like-minded individuals should just diligently honour their responsibilities and care for the children they fathered when all was rosy.
My friend, Brenda Nglazi Zulu, always says “A man who fails to feed his family is not a blessing”.