As lack of DNA Testing tools in the country lead the birth dispute to court arbitration
By: Yusuf M Hasan
LAS ANOD (Somalilandsun) – We all carry around thousands of typos in our DNA but one stands distinct that is the paternity one which ascertains birth root.
But in Las Anod town the Sool regional capital in the East of Somaliland three families have claimed an orphan as their own thus setting the stage for a prolonged court arbitration most likely to end up in the wrong decision in a country devoid of DNA testing which is not only faster but factual as well.
The legal proceedings ensued earlier in the week when the Clerk to the Las Anod local council Abdi Khayre Dirir inundated by claims from three families over a 12 years old stray orphan boy approached the court for help in settling the paternity dispute
According to the council clerk the orphan child named Ahmed arrived in the town on the 8th of November 2015 from Garowe the capital of the Somalia administrative region of Puntland from where he claimed to have been living in various military camps and police stations since he, the boy, can recall.
“My involvement with the young boy ensued the same day he arrived in Las Anod upon which he went straight to the central police station seeking shelter thence the police commander informing me”
The local council administrator took the child to his home where he has been residing since while investigations were ongoing to verify his family roots but to no vain, clerk Dirir having contacted officers commanding the various security camps in Puntland that the boy revealed as his former dwelling places.
‘All the officers contacted confirmed knowledge of the boy’s stay in the various bases but nothing further as per his genealogy since he never revealed any information thus kept as an orphan” said Clerk Dirir
The nearest the boy could reveal about his relatives was that before seeking shelter at the various security bases he used to live with a man he only identified as a pirate who died mysterious at sea.
“upon death of my pirate guardian I was taken over by the Galkayo local council who handed me over to the police in town before I proceeded to other security camps in Garowe and later Burtinle before moving to Las Anod Abdi Khayre Dirir told the local court as having been informed by the boy who remains adamant that he is from the Mitgan clan.
Starting early February, the Las Anod Council Clerk revealed, three different families resident in the town and known to him and as if synchronized laid claim to the child through numerous telephone calls most of them threatening.
“One family says the boy who is their son got lost when he was seven years old, another claims he disappeared at three years old while the third one is vague” says Dirir adding that most confounding is the fact that the three claimant families are from the Dulbahnate clan while the boy claims to be from the Mitgan clan.
In Somaliland where DNA testing kits are unavailable the saga of the orphan will not only be a prolonged and bruising but one that might end not only in the wrong family getting custody but eliciting sub-clan animosities
DNA profiling (also called DNA fingerprinting, DNA testing, or DNA typing) is a forensic technique used to identify individuals by characteristics of their DNA. A DNA profile is a small set of DNA variations that is very likely to be different in all unrelated individuals, thereby being as unique to individuals as are fingerprints (hence the alternate name for the technique)
“Whatever decision the honourabe court reaches sub-sub clan egos shall surely be irked” says the Editor of The Horn Tribune Mohamed Egge Boodle adding that the best solutio0n and safest is soliciting DNA testing at any cost as he referred to a recent situation in which Two sisters separated as young children when an avalanche struck their town in Colombia reunited after THIRTY YEARS courtesy of DNA testing
On the other Hand upon query on DNA testing kits availability and cost our own correspondent Latifa Yusuf Masai currently in Aberdeen Scotland suggested http://dna.ancestry.com where the payment of only $99 will facilitate ease of uncovering ethnic mix, discover distant relatives, and find new details about unique family history with a simple DNA test
In the meantime we urge all Somalilanders of means to assist not only the Las Anod Local Council Clerk Abdi Khayre Dirir take care of the boy but the availability of at the least one DNA testing kit to the republic of Somaliland
Copyright: Somalilandsun, 2016. www.somalilandsun.com
