Fred Gumo seeks DNA test in ongoing paternity suit

By Isaiah Lucheli

A former cabinet minister Fred Gumo wants a DNA test conducted to confirm whether or not he is the father of a six-month-old child in an on-going paternity suit.

Gumo is pitted against a woman who has filed a suit in court seeking upkeep for a child she claims the minister fathered.

The woman moved to court accusing the former minister of failing to take responsibility after she gave birth despite Gumo having suggested the name of the child.

The former Westlands MP, in his response in court, dismissed allegations that he had cohabited with the woman for five years in a relationship that led to the birth of the child.

“I am not sure of the paternity of the minor and it would be best for the matter be settled through a DNA test,” the politician submitted in court.

Gumo and the woman, through their respective lawyers, agreed to have the test conducted at the Kenya Medical Research Institute in two weeks’ time.

She is seeking Sh150,000 as maintenance but the former minister submits that he generously offered her Sh10,000 and secured her a job in Kisumu.

Gumo said the woman had turned down the offer and opted to embarrass him due to his standing in society by filing a suit in court.

Documents filed in court on September 24, through Muma and Kanjama Advocates, show the former minister saying the complainant was taking advantage of his position in the society and wanted to unjustly enrich herself.

“The woman is using the maintenance claim as a way of unjustly enriching herself. She can fend for the child since she is a County Representative in the Nairobi county government. She now has an income and is very capable of footing half the parental responsibility role as stated in the Children’s Act,” the former minister submitted.

He claimed the woman had three other children with other men who were likely to be paying maintenance fees and added that he had offered her Sh10,000 for upkeep but she had declined on grounds that the money was too little.

The woman claimed she met Gumo in 2008 and had an affair with him until February last year, when she got pregnant.

The matter will be heard on November 5.