Mother: My child has 2 birth certificates

The Government is on the spot for allegedly issuing two birth certificates to a child whose parents are fighting over custody in court.

The eight-year-old was issued with a birth certificate on October 2, 2008. Another certificate was issued on January 1, 2012, under a different name and without the mother’s consent.

Both certificates were issued by the Department of Registration of Births and Deaths in Nakuru and have different serial numbers. However, the girl’s date of birth is the same on both documents, August 21, 2008.

According to the child’s mother, her estranged husband, a doctor, went behind her back and acquired a different birth certificate in anticipation of the court battle.

“I have been to the registration office but nobody is willing to tell me what transpired. It is sad that rules can be twisted to enable others to defeat justice,” she said.

BABY GIRL

The two, according to court documents, lived together between March 2001 and 2011 during which time they had a baby girl. According to documents filed by the woman, a court order that the man served her with was fraudulently acquired by the defendant and the same was nullified by another court order last month.

This was after Akanga Alera Advocates disowned documents submitted by the man claiming they was drafted by the law firm.

“Our attention has been drawn to the purported existence of the child’s matter at the Nakuru Children’s Court and the pleadings allegedly drawn by our office. We have absolutely no knowledge of the above matter. We have never had any instructions from the alleged plaintiff nor have we ever established a branch in Nakuru,” said a letter dated June 27.

On January 23, 2015, Resident Magistrate Rita Amwayi used the pleadings to grant custody of the child to the father pending hearing of the application.

Later, Senior Resident Magistrate Joe Omido said the suit was filed by an unqualified person and ordered it struck out with costs to the defendant.