Zimbabwe’s regulatory council responsible for authorizing the Deoxyribonucleic acid test (DNA test) has rejected Global DNA Zimbabwe and Expediate DNA Zimbabweans testing sites and said the two are not registered as testing sites but DNA collection sites.
Chairman of the Medical Laboratory & Clinical Scientists Council of Zimbabwe (MLCSCZ) Ranganai, Chari C Mubvumbi said the regulatory body condemns unethical practice on the poor and the marginalized population by Global DNA Zimbabwe and Expedite DNA Zimbabwe.
“Mr Tinashe Mugabe and Jane are not professionally qualified nor competent to issue those test results,” Mubvumbi said.
“According to the Health Professions Act, medical laboratory test is requested for by qualified and registered clinicians. Upon successful completion of the testing process, the test results are sent back to the requesting clinicians who are qualified to advise patients and clients in an ethical manner.”
Mubvumbi rejects Global DNA Zimbabwe at a time when Tinashe Mugabe went trending on social media following a Television show on DNA showing on the country’s national broadcaster Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC).
Mugabe’s viral reality show known as “The Closure” features families around Zimbabwe being interrogated before the free DNA results for family children are revealed on camera.
The program that airs every Saturday, has a disclaimer that announces that the parties (involved in the film) consented to be on the show.
The Closure is not unique to Zimbabwe, such scripts have been done in countries like the United Kingdom and even India.
Mugabe’s latest attack with MLCSCZ is not the first one to be reported by the media, in 2019, the DNA man fell into a storm involving allegations of fake results with a woman who was looking for her parents, with an Australian journalist working on the story of the allegations getting arrested.
Mubvumbi said, “The Medical Laboratory & Clinical Scientists Council of Zimbabwe urges the Zimbabwean population not to be coerced into receiving Paternity results in such unprofessional manner.”
