The Registrar General, Cde Tobaiwa Mudede, says the proposed compulsory paternity test on all newly-born babies would cost “only” US$50, an amount that can be paid over three years. Mudede’s clarification follows an outcry by members of the public over who would foot the bill for the children to go for the compulsory DNA tests to confirm their paternity. “We will ask the parents to pay a heavily subsidized fee of only US$50 since this would be done in-house,” Mudede said.

“Like I indicated, we are in the process of acquiring six DNA machines from Germany, which would be placed in all major referral hospitals… two in Harare and one each in Masvingo, Mutare and Chinhoyi one in Bulawayo… this is a peppercorn fee if you consider that paternity tests cost anything upwards of US$500 in private laboratories,” Mudede explained. Last week, Cde Mudede revealed that starting next year, it would become a legal requirement for all children born to Zimbabwean parents to undergo DNA tests to confirm their paternity before they can be issued with birth certificates bearing their fathers’ names.

Although the move was welcome by the generality of the people—especially men—there were however serious concerns about the cost implications of the move. Cde Mudede said he was very happy that most Zimbabweans are supporting his idea. “In Shona there is a saying that kuzeza chati kwata hunge uine katurikwa (loosely translated to mean only the guilty have something to worry out)… this service is being made available for next to nothing, so why would people complain? Most people would agree with me on the long term social benefits of this move,” Mudede said. He explained that those without money to pay immediately would be issued with provisional birth certificates, documents that would only be replaced by substantive ones after the US$50 had been paid.