No father on Kamuzu’s ‘son’ certificate

No father on Kamuzu’s ‘son’ certificate

The official birth records and

papers of Jim Jumani Johansson, a man who this week claimed to be

founding president the late Hastings Kamuzu Banda’s son, do not make any reference to his father.

This has been described by a lawyer in Lilongwe as “highly unusual”.

Johansson in an interview on Thursday declined to comment on the papers, insisting he has his own documentary evidence he will be submitting to “appropriate authorities at an appropriate time.”

“I cannot comment anything on those documents. My life has been full of more questions than readily available answers. I end up getting confused to answer such questions or some of the many identities people proclaim about me,” said Johansson on Thursday.

Johansson’s birth certificate indicates Jim Jumani Kaunda was born on 2nd May, 1973, at Ekwendeni Hospital and was registered five years later, on 9th June, 1978, by R.L Ndala as a birth within Mzimba district.

Mirriam Kaunda, according to the certificate, is his mother’s maiden name.

The certificate gives the full particulars of the mother as “Mirriam Kaunda, Air Malawi, P.O Box 84, Blantyre, and her position as Sales/Reservation Clerk. The birth certificate, however, does not bear the name of the father or his particulars.

An adoption order filed at the Registrar Generals Department listed as Cause number 2 of 1978 in the Lilongwe Resident Magistrate Court, gives Mats Nakan Johansson and his wife Mirriam Emily Beatrice Johansson full custody of Jim Jumani Kaunda.

The then magistrate who gave the order is still alive but could not be contacted or named for legal reasons.

Mats Nakan Johansson, Jumani’s adoptive father is listed as an engineer at Business Machines Limited, P.O Box 30089, Lilongwe 3.

An official at the residence of former Official Hostess Mama Cecilia Tamanda Kadzamira, a long time confidante of the late Kamuzu, told The Nation of July 14 that Johansson was also one of the financial advisers of the former president.

The order by the magistrate also says, Johansson, together with his wife, had presented adequate evidence of the matter.

“And being satisfied that the allegations in the said petition are true and being also satisfied with the undertaking of the said Mats Nakan Johansson and his said wife and being further satisfied that is for the benefit of the said infant that he should be adopted by the said Mats Nakan Johansson and his wife Mirriam Emily Beatrice  Johansson and the requirements of the Adoption of Children Act have been complied with,” reads part of the order which does not include the original applications.

“It is further ordered that surname of the said infant be changed to Johansson so that his full name henceforth be Jim Jumani Johansson,” the order made on 6th April, 1979 further reads.

The two documents fail to indicate the whereabouts of the father. The circumstances warranting such an adoption are not explained in the documents.

“The adoption order is supposed to state the particulars of the father from whom the kid is being adopted. I cannot understand special circumstances that warranted such a critical omission. May be it is indeed a protected identity,” said the lawyer in Lilongwe.

Malawi Law Society secretary, Jabar Alide, said on Friday that it is not possible for a parent to adopt his or her own child.

“You cannot adopt your own child. You adopt something that you are not a parent to. Adoption has to go through the court. What happens if the court says no to the adoption?” wondered Alide.

Deputy director of Children in the Ministry of Gender, Child and Community Development, Silas Jeke, said in an interview on Friday that one parent or two parents can adopt a child.

“It is possible for one parent to adopt a child. We call that single adoption. It is also possible for two parents to adopt a child. That is called joint adoption. If a single parent adopts a child and later marries, the spouse recognises the child as his or hers too,” Jeke said.

Jeke added that while it is necessary to know the origins of the father of a child being adopted, what is critical in court is to find out what is in the best interest of the child.

Jim Jumani Johansson shocked the nation on Wednesday this week when he claimed that the founding president is his father, adding that he is ready to take a DNA test to prove the claim. He has since applied to the Office of the President to have his name changed to Jumani Immanuel Masauko Kamuzu Banda through an advert placed in the Sunday Times of July 11 2010.

The family of the late former president has dared Johansson to produce his mother to prove his parentage.