Claim: Ghana’s Parliament is set to approve compulsory DNA testing for every newborn
Source: Social media, Metro TV Ghana
Verdict: Misleading!
Researched by Samuel Nii Adjetey
Multiple social media users shared posts that suggested that Ghana’s Parliament is set to approve a bill that mandates a compulsory Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) test for every newborn.
On April 30, 2026 a popular Accra-based outfit, Metro TV, posted a visual card on X. It had the same headline and image text that said: “Ghana Parliament set to approve compulsory DNA testing for every newborn.” At the time of publishing this report, the post has garnered 2,523.6K views, 4.8K likes, 1K retweets and 213 comments.
The claim had been circulated by multiple accounts on April 29, 2026 a day before Metro TV’s post. (See here, here, here and here).
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This fact-check will verify the claim.
Fact-check
GhanaFact contacted Metro TV over the source of the information carried on their flyer. They referred us to an article by The Chronicle newspaper in which the Ahafo Ano South East Member of Parliament, Yakubu Mohammed, hinted at plans to introduce “a Private Member’s Bill that will make paternity tests compulsory for every child born in Ghana.”
GhanaFact contacted the MP asking whether he had formally presented the said Bill before Parliament. He said: “we started something (drafting the Bill) … even when you draft a Bill … you need to as well do consultations with stakeholders for them to also come up with their views, then you will know that, OK, this clause needs to be amended or removed.”
He also confirmed that the Bill had the support of some fellow MPs and even leaders in Parliament but he held the view that the Metro TV flyer reflected the views that he held on DNA for newborns and the Bill he was working to introduce. “It’s in line with what I’m bringing across because Parliament has processes we don’t have one process, so it’s not all bills that go through a lengthy process,” he said.
Viral flyer circulated when Parliament was in recess
Parliament adjourned for the Easter break on Friday, March 27, 2026, marking the end of the First Meeting of the Second Session of the Ninth Parliament. Therefore, at the time the claim was circulated, the plenary (the House), that can consider or approve laws, was not sitting.
Responding to Metro TV’s post on X on April 30, 2026, JoyNews parliamentary correspondent Kwaku Asante noted that Parliament has been on recess and therefore could not be considering a bill when MPs were not sitting.
“Parliament is set to” when Parliament has been on recess for over a month. The particular bill in question has not even been laid on the floor let alone referred to a committee to go through the laborious law making process. Why do we do this?” his caption read.
On May 1, 2025 the Speaker of Parliament in a statement on Facebook announced that the House will resume sitting on May 21, 2026.
The running conversation on paternity fraud
GhanaFact’s research found that, Member of Parliament for Gomoa Central, Kwame Asare Obeng, popularly known as A Plus, has recently announced plans to sponsor a private member’s bill in Parliament to punish women who engage in paternity fraud.
In an interview with George Quaye on Joy Prime on February 12, 2026 he said he is of the view that there should be “a legislation that prescribes punishment for people who engage in paternity fraud.”
GhanaFact also cited another interview on UTV on February 14, 2026 where A Plus said the bill is ready to be sent to Parliament. “We are not considering drafting the Bill now. We are done with the bill we want to send to Parliament. Today, we are assembling all the lawyers we have contacted to go through the Bill before we send it to Parliament,” he said. [Watch from 1:44:20-1:45:28]
When asked by a panelist on the UTV show if the Bill mandates a compulsory DNA testing for newborn children, A Plus said the bill has no clause that proposes a compulsory test for newborns. (Watch from 1:53:51-1:52:24)
“No, that is not what we are saying, the bill does not propose a mandatory DNA testing for every newborn child,” he said. Based on the findings above, the claim that Parliament is set to approve compulsory DNA testing for every newborn is misleading.
Verdict:
Therefore, the claim is rated Misleading.
