Popular comedian and TV host Dr Ofweneke has entered the paternity testing debate with a direct call to action, urging male lawmakers at both the Senate and parliamentary level to push for mandatory DNA tests as part of the birth certificate process.
Speaking to TUKO.co.ke on Tuesday, Ofweneke said Kenya’s existing laws skew too far in one direction.
“We have a lot of bills that are defending women. We want to see the DNA being made mandatory at the birth certificate processing level,” he said.
Beyond birth registration, he also wants paternity testing incorporated into insurance coverage.
Why Dr Ofweneke says men are being wronged
At the heart of his argument is the experience of men who spend years raising children, only to later discover they are not the biological fathers.
“If somebody can lie that a child is yours for 12 years, then what more can this woman do?” he said.
He acknowledged the emotional weight on both parties, noting that “it is easy to love a child who is biologically yours, but it requires double energy to love a child who is not.”
He also drew a firm line between choice and circumstance when it comes to stepfathers.
“A stepfather is by choice and not by trouble,” he said.
His remarks come against a backdrop of growing online conversations around paternity fraud in Kenya.
High-profile cases, including what has been dubbed the “Ciggie” controversy involving the influencer who discovered after 12 years that a child he raised was not his, have kept the issue trending.
A report by the Bioinformatics Institute of Kenya, drawn from 6,169 DNA profiles, found that 32 per cent of paternity tests excluded the tested man as the biological father, while 64 per cent confirmed paternity.
Relationship expert shifts focus to the child
Not everyone on the panel shared Ofweneke’s framing. Relationship expert Gertrude Mungai, who co-hosts with him, said she supports DNA testing in principle but argued that the heaviest burden falls on the child, “who had nothing to do with what happened.”
Her concern centres on how mandatory testing could affect children caught in the middle of adult disputes.
The exchange took place at the launch of Season 5 of Hello Mr Right Kenya, the popular relationship show that returns on Rembo TV on Saturday, 31 October at 8 pm.
An auditions episode is set to air on 17 October. Joining Ofweneke and Mungai on the presenting team this season is newly unveiled co-host Trisha Khalid.
