The controversy surrounding the late George Saitoti’s son, Zachary Musengi’s paternity has returned to the High Court with a man alleging to be the father demanding that a DNA test be conducted to ascertain claims that he was the biological father.
Sebastian Maina Ngunju has for the last seven years been embroiled in a row over Musengi who he says was abducted in unknown circumstances and ended up being Saitoti’s son.
Court of Appeal judges Philip Waki, Patrick Kiage and Roselyn Nambuye had, in June 2017, concluded that Musengi was not the son of Ngunju and his wife Elizabeth Maina.
Consequently, the judges unanimously declined a plea by Ngunju to reopen or review the case and ruled the matter had been withdrawn through mutual understanding by both parties in July 2013.
News of the judgment delivered on 9 June 2017, on the eve of the fifth anniversary of Saitoti’s death in a helicopter crash, was received with celebration by the former vice-president’s wife – Margaret Wanjiku Saitoti, close family members and friends.
However, in the latest court documents, Ngunju says that in order to lay the matter to rest with finality, a DNA test should be conducted.
He stated that his late wife Elizabeth gave birth to their third born son in September 1985, but who later got lost at 4pm in the evening of 31 August, 1988, at their Subukia home.
“On July 15, 2012, during the requiem mass for the late Prof George Saitoti, I saw a boy by the name Zachary Musengi Saitoti in television during a live broadcast seated next to Mrs Saitoti. After a close look, I realized he bore likeness and similitude of other siblings in his custody,” Ngunju stated in court papers.
He pointed out there is an imminent need for the DNA test as it shall aid the court in reaching the final verdict on the paternity of Musengi beyond any reasonable doubt.
Ngunju pointed out that it is his family members’ constitutional right and fundamental freedom from being subjected to torture and that ascertaining their biological relationships outweighs the right to immunity and privacy of the Saitoti family.
The late Saitoti, alongside his Assistant Minister in the Internal Security Ministry – Orwa Ojode, perished on 10 June 2012 when the police helicopter they were travelling in crashed over Ngong Hills, shortly after taking off from Nairobi’s Wilson Airport.
