In a nation grappling with pressing existential challenges, Ghana’s Parliament finds itself entertaining one of the most misguided and discriminatory proposals in recent memory: a bill to mandate compulsory DNA paternity testing for every child at birth.
This isn’t a targeted measure for disputed cases or a thoughtful policy for child welfare. It is a blanket presumption of guilt slapped squarely on Ghanaian women, the automatic treatment of every mother as a potential cheater whose fidelity must be scientifically verified before she can even leave the hospital with her newborn.
This is not governance. This is witch-hunting dressed up as legislation. It institutionalizes distrust in the most intimate cornerstone of society – the family.
Where is the outrage from the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection? Where are the women’s rights activists, civil society organizations, and gender advocates who routinely champion women’s dignity?
Their silence is deafening and telling. By demanding proof of paternity while taking maternity for granted, the state is effectively saying: “We trust mothers to give birth, but not to tell the truth about who the father is.” This is not gender-neutral policy; it is state-sanctioned suspicion targeted at women.
The Real Costs of This Ill-Informed Obsession:
Beyond the philosophical insult lies practical absurdity. Implementing mandatory DNA testing for hundreds of thousands of births annually would impose enormous costs on an already strained healthcare system, costs that will ultimately be borne by taxpayers, including the very women and families this bill claims to “protect.”
Hospitals would become testing centers, delaying discharges, diverting resources from maternal and neonatal care, and risking family conflicts at the most vulnerable moment in a new parent’s life.
Proponents cite “paternity fraud” as justification, pointing to high exclusion rates in voluntary tests (often around 20-40% in disputed cases). But this is classic selection bias.
People seek DNA tests precisely when doubt already exists. These figures do not reflect the general population of married or partnered women. The vast majority of Ghanaian families function on trust, love, and mutual responsibility, not deception.
Painting every woman with the brush of suspicion because of the sins of a minority is unjust and un-African in its erosion of communal faith.
Parliament must focus on what truly matters. Ghana faces crises that demand urgent legislative attention. Why are a few MPs expending energy on this divisive distraction when the following demand immediate action: Plastic Pollution and Environmental Degradation; Sachet water wrappers, plastic bags, and waste choke our streets, rivers, and lagoons. Galamsey (illegal mining) has polluted up to 60% of water bodies, threatening agriculture, fisheries, and public health. Calls for an “ecocide” law to criminalize massive ecosystem destruction have been made in Parliament, yet they seem to garner less frenzy than DNA tests.
Our cities drown in filth. Effective extended producer responsibility for plastics, bans on single-use items, and enforcement of sanitation bylaws could transform public health more than any paternity registry.
Economic Pressures, Education, Healthcare, and Youth Unemployment: Families struggling, poor infrastructure, and limited opportunities.
Strengthening child protection, education quality, and maternal healthcare would do far more for children’s futures than mandatory testing.
The destruction of forests and water sources is an emergency requiring decisive bills, enforcement, and international cooperation, not performative distrust in mothers.
These are the battles worthy of parliamentary time. Not turning maternity wards into interrogation rooms.
This bill is a grotesque attempt to legislate mistrust into the heart of Ghanaian society. It undermines the sacred bond of motherhood and family at a time when unity and focus are needed most.
I call on serious-minded MPs from all sides of the House to shoot this bill down decisively. I urge the Gender Minister, civil society, faith-based organizations, traditional leaders, and every right-thinking Ghanaian – men and women alike, to raise their voices loudly.
Write to your MP. Speak out on radio and social media. Demand that Parliament prioritize real solutions to real problems over this backward, divisive distraction.
Ghanaian women are not suspects. They are the backbone of our families, communities, and nation. Treating them as such dishonors our mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters. Trust, responsibility, and fidelity are best nurtured through culture, education, and mutual respect, not by turning science into a tool of suspicion.Ghana deserves better.
By Ras Mubarak, former MP for Kumbungu
