Men must take discreet DNA test – CANGO director
LAMGABHI ETIYENI – Men must now adopt the culture of taking discreet DNA tests if they are not certain about the paternity of a child.
This is the observation of Thembinkosi Dlamini who is the Director of the Coordinating Assembly of Non-Governmental Organisations, (CANGO).
This organisation was established in 1983 primarily as a network for NGOs working in primary health care in Eswatini. CANGO’s overall mandate as an umbrella body is to ensure a well-functioning and co-ordinated civil society.
Dlamini was asked by this publication to respond on the Eswatini News story involving four men who were ordered to take DNA test by the office of the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) after it emerged that a woman was allegedly collecting maintenance money from them for her child.
A DNA is a scientific way to determine paternity or biological parent of a child and this is usually performed in matters of dispute on same. A discreet DNA test therefore is one that is taken deliberately without the knowledge of the other party.
Noteworthy is that the results of a discreet DNA cannot stand in a court of law in case of a paternity dispute but despite this shortfall, Dlamini insisted that such a process was still very much necessary. “A man can use discreet DNA test results as preliminary evidence to support his claim that he is not the father of a child. This is done without the knowledge of the other party and helps in giving an indication if the child is yours or not,” Dlamini said.
He said history has it that most women usually do not embrace the idea of a DNA test hence the need for men to undergo such a process without their (women) involvement. Commenting on the issue of the four men ordered to take the DNA, Dlamini made it clear that such cases were actually very common.
“It is very common that you find men disputing the paternity of a child, but it is just that maybe such cases are never made public. A lot of males find themselves in such situations but are not brave enough to address such using the right channels. Some choose to maintain the child knowing at the back of their minds that they have doubts,” he further said.
The CANGO director also made it no secret that the woman committed a serious crime misleading the four men into believing that they fathered her child.
TRUTH
“The truth is that even if the woman slept with the four men, she knew from the start who the possible father of her child was. She therefore committed a serious crime and the law should definitely take its course. I believe that there is an office that is relevant to dealing with such matters and this is the Social Welfare Department,” he said. He admitted that such cases were one of the main causes of most domestic violence incidents reported in the country.
“Domestic violence starts in cases where there are disagreements between the partners more especially on the issue of DNA. My advice is for men to get used to this process to minimise violence in our households. Some men raise kids just for the sake of saving their relationships and once that ends, the DNA issue immediately comes up.”
On the issue of compensating the soldier nurse who spent a lot of money raising the child that turned out not to be his, Dlamini said legislation does not accommodate such unfortunately.
“The only remedy would be for the actual father to fork out the compensation for him, that would be the only fair intervention in this case. Otherwise, the soldier nurse would have to accept that he might not get the compensation unless he opens civil case against both parents. If the father is working, he can be compelled by the court of law to compensate the soldier nurse.”
Asked if he is considering taking the legal route in this matter, the soldier nurse said that option has not crossed his mind yet.
“For now, I am waiting for the confirmation of the child’s father’s and once that is out in the open, I will then take it from there,” the soldier nurse said. He is claiming to have raised the seven-year old child in question for years before the DNA test that cleared his name as a father, was taken.