A high court judge made a ruling yesterday that allows for the names of fathers to children born out of wedlock to be included in the birth certificate.

In her ruling, Justice Mumbi Ngugi declared Section 12 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act unconstitutional saying that said every child has a right to have the name of his or her father on the birth certificate.

“Every child is entitled to a name. Even though we live in patriarchal society, it is proper to keep birth records and avoid justifying the limit of discrimination in a child’s life.”

Initially, the law required a mother to seek the concent of the father before including his name on the birth certificate but with the new ruling, a mother will be allowed to do that without any permission.

Justice Mumbi Ngugi also ordered the Registrar of Births and Deaths to ensure that the entry of names is done in the next 45 days.

The verdict was as a result of case filed by a single mother in 2014, challenging the Births and Deaths Registration Act.

The ruling was ironically received with mixed reactions from Kenyan women, with some asking “what if I don’t want his names to appear”.

JUDGES IN KENYA TO RETIRE AT 70 YEARS

The Court of Appeal has ruled that the retirement age of judges is 70 and not 74 as proposed by the Deputy Chief Justice Kalpana Rawal.

The ruling has quashed the hopes for Justice Kalpana Rawal and suspended Supreme Court judge Philip Tunoi to succeed CJ Willy Mutunga after he retires in June.

The two had moved to court seeking to overturn to overturn a decision of the High Court that judges should retire at 70 as stipulated in the constitution, arguing that they should retire at 74 as per their contract , which they signed during  the older constitution

BREAKING: #Kenya Court of Appeal rules that retirement age of judges is 70 years. Justice Rawal’s Appeal is dismissed #Judiciary #Governance