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Adopted children to get birth certificates

By Pamela Chepkemei

NAIROBI, KENYA: Any child adopted in Kenya will have a birth certificate thanks to a High Court order.

The court overturned a law by the Principal Registrar of Births and Deaths, stating adopted children could only be issued with adoption certificates.

In his ruling, High Court Judge Isaac Lenaola said adopted children should be issued with the legal document.   “An order is issued at the Principal Registrar of Births and Death to issue all the adopted children appearing in the register with birth certificates based on the particulars in the register but with no reference to the parents as adopter and with no reference to the child as adopted,” said Justice Lenaola.


Court order

He further ordered the Principal Registrar of Births and Deaths to maintain the register of adopted children.  Justice Lenaola made the decision after hearing a case filed last year by a lobby, Organisation for National Empowerment.  The group argued the Government was discriminating against the adopted children by giving them an adoption certificate and not a birth certificate.   Lawyer Stephen Mureithi representing the lobby told the court the law was unconstitutional.

The judge said whereas adopted children must indeed be registered in the adoption register, there was absolutely no reason a certificate of birth could not be issued to them.