A Kisumu man has been allowed by the court to delete his name from a child’s birth certificate after DNA tests proved that he was not the father.
The landmark ruling was made by Justice Roselyn Aburili after a DNA test on the man and the child that had been ordered by the court showed the man was not the father.
This was the second DNA test to be conducted. According to court filings, the man had secretly conducted a DNA test on the child and found out that he was not the father.
When he presented his DNA results to the court and petitioned to have his name expunged from the child’s birth certificate, the child’s mother protested and claimed the results were fake.
To establish the truth, the Justice Aburili ordered for a fresh DNA test to be conducted by the Government Chemist at the man’s cost.
During the proceedings, the court heard that the child was born on February 10, 2015. However, his birth certificate was issued on April 27, 2023.
The man, who identified before the court as F.O.A, was in a romantic relationship with the child’s mother in 2014. The child’s mother fell pregnant and made him believe that he was the father.
At first, he agreed to provide for them but later became suspicious and stopped. When he doubted paternity, the child’s mother reported him to the Children’s Department and accused him of child neglect.
He was ordered to start providing for the child and was granted access to spend time with the child.
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Through this access, he conducted a DNA test on the child privately. In protest, the child’s mother told the court that her child had grown knowing F.O.A as the father.
She further claimed that the man had given his identity card to have the child’s birth certificate processed willingly.
However, Justice Aburili ruled that it would be an injustice for the child to continue carrying a name that does not rightfully belong to their father, and whose bearer doesn’t want to be associated with them.
She further declared that the child had a right to have untrue and misleading information on their birth certificate deleted.
“There is evidenced adduced beyond reasonable doubt from the two reports filed in court that the Applicant is not the biological father to the minor and he has no interest in the child having or using his name on the birth certificate,” the court ruled.
