A Milimani court on Wednesday, January 18, ruled that two suspects in a case of alleged child trafficking have a case to answer.
Principal Magistrate Esther Kimilu found that the two, Fred Leparan Makallah and Selina Awiti Adundo, were fairly implicated in the child sale scandal.
The two accused were social workers at the Mama Lucy Hospital in Nairobi which was put in the spotlight over an alleged shady business involving abandoned children.
Consequently, the magistrate set the date for the commencement of their defense hearing for March 7 in 2023.
"Fred Leparan Makallah and Selina Awiti Adundo, who are social workers at the hospital, are facing three counts of child trafficking and charges relating to child neglect," read a statement from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).
In the exposé that was done by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), one of the social workers was caught on camera attempting to sell an abandoned child in the facility.
Two reporters from the BBC went undercover, acting as willing buyers of a child from the hospital.
Their mission led them to Leparan, who reportedly agreed to facilitate the sale of a two-week-old baby for Ksh300,000.
Oblivious, to the risk of being exposed, his colleagues at the hospital also fell into the trap as accomplices.
Consequently, the government ordered a probe into the shady business and other related corruption cases reported in the facility.
According to the BBC story, the trade was targeting infants in health facilities and streets and was reported to be sold to a lucrative market abroad.
The report further indicated that stolen children were offered to families wishing to adopt children, which was in disregard of Kenyan adoption laws.
