Love Child: Court to wait on DNA test to rule on Khaemba paternity suit

A court in Kitale has ordered former Trans Nzoia Governor Patrick Khaemba to undergo a DNA test to determine the paternity of a nine-year-old child he allegedly sired with a Ugandan woman. Patrick Khaemba. Kitale Resident Magistrate Tobias Omono directed that the child named as G A, her mother and Khaemba undergo a DNA test at the Government Chemist within 21 days for the purpose of establishing the child's paternity. The businesswoman based in Kampala had sued Khaemba seeking actual and legal custody of the child. She is also seeking Sh236,000 per month as maintenance and upkeep of the child. The court directed the duo will equally bear the cost of the DNA test if it turns out that the respondent is the child's father. Omono noted that in the event Khaemba is found to be the father, he will refund the amount catered for by the woman and a similar case will be effected if the paternity tests turn negative and in his favour. He directed that the results of the DNA test to be filled before him as soon as they are released, and in any event within seven days of such release. On December 15, 2022, the woman moved to court seeking actual and legal custody, care and control of the child be awarded to her pending the hearing and determination of the suit. She had prayed to the court to order the respondent to pay school fees, buy school uniforms, books and stationary and other schools related requirements and provide medical care for the child. Empty promises Through her lawyer John Bororio, she complains that since 2013, she has been reaching out to the former governor to contribute towards the child's maintenance and upkeep, but he has been giving empty promises. The woman alleges the former county chief has failed to provide money for the treatment of the child suffering from a gastrointestinal disease. An affidavit sworn by the woman who runs a cosmetics and beauty business indicates that she and the child live in a rental house she pays Sh146,000 and Sh20,000 for water and electricity. She argues that her business is not doing well since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and has been unable to provide for the child single-handedly. She told the court that the respondent is a man of means since he was a former governor and should take the role of providing for the child. The former governor admitted in court to having met and become friends with the woman in 2011 while working in Uganda, but denies fathering the child. Khaemba through his lawyers describes the suit as a "well-orchestrated extortion" and "collusion to blackmail and defraud him". The respondent argues that the minor was born to the woman's previous marriage, as evidenced by the minor's birth certificate. He urged the court to dismiss the suit with costs since it is totally misconceived and untenable in the law. The woman has informed the court that she was ready to avail herself and the minor for a paternity test at the respondent's cost and requested the court to grant her wish. While issuing the orders for the DNA test, the Magistrate noted that the court can only apportion parental responsibility to a parent who has acknowledged paternity. "The materials placed before this court at this stage and given the peculiar circumstances of this case, cannot enable the court to grant prayers," the Magistrate said, denying the woman's prayers for Khaemba to cater the child's maintenance and upkeep. The Magistrate argued that whether or not the applicant's invitation to a DNA test is an afterthought is a non-issue since where circumstances of a case demand, the court is at liberty to call for a DNA test to determine any issue before it in a just manner.

Love Child: Court to wait on DNA test to rule on Khaemba paternity suit

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Love Child: Court to wait on DNA test to rule on Khaemba paternity suit

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