Kenyan woman fights to have children take fathers' names

Questions about what children born out of wedlock should expect from their fathers have arisen in a lawsuit.

The woman, who has sued the Attorney General and the Registrar of Births and Deaths, is seeking to have men forced to have their names on the birth certificates of all the children they sire.

Whereas the Government holds that Section 12 of the Birth and Deaths Registration Act is faultless, the woman, through her lawyer John Chigiti, says it is discriminatory, as the children grow up without a full identity.

The question raised by the case is whether a father who does not want to associate with a child born out of wedlock, should be forced to register his name on the child's birth certificate.

On the other hand, what would happen if women were given leeway to register men as fathers without seeking consent.

The Government in its submissions filed in the High Court registry, argues that the purpose of Section 12 is to protect men from women who are after a status and money.

But the petitioner disputes this, saying a child, no matter how they were born, has a right to their father's name. "Allowing names to be inserted in the register at any point without verification would open a platform of confusion as some mothers would have leeway to accuse any man of their choice at any time for personal reasons," AG Githu Muigai's submissions read in part.

"A name that is not registered under a legal regime that is acceptable in law has little or no value to a human being," the woman's lawyer said in response, adding that a sense of identity can only be created when the names of both parents are written on the certificate. He argued that everyone should be treated equally despite their status. He also suggested that although the term 'illegitimate child' is not often used, it should be struck out of all legal documents.