Case Note
In re Estate of Samuel Kamau Nganga (Deceased)
In a succession matter, administrators sought a DNA test on a minor to establish paternity, pointing out the child's birth certificate had been issued eleven years after the alleged father's death. The widow opposed the test as an infringement of the minor's privacy. The Court agreed the DNA test was neither necessary nor proportionate: the operative legal question was whether the deceased son's own estate was entitled to a share of his father's estate — not whether the minor personally qualified as a beneficiary — and genetic data is sensitive personal data that compelled testing implicates both privacy and bodily integrity.
Whether you are defending a complaint, appealing a determination, or bringing a privacy claim of your own, the forum you choose and the procedural record you build early usually decide the outcome.
Muchangi Patrick & Co. Advocates represents complainants and respondents before the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner and on appeal, judicial review and constitutional petition before the High Court.