Two former social workers at Mama Lucy Hospital have been sentenced to 35 years and two years respectively for stealing and selling babies at a cost of between Ksh100,000 and Ksh300,000.
While delivering the judgment, Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Esther Kimilu sentenced Fred Leparan to 35 years in prison with no option for a fine.
His co-accused, Selina Adundo was sentenced to serve a jail term of two years or pay a Ksh200,000 fine.
Magistrate Kimilu ruled that the evidence presented courts was undeniable and proved that both Leparan and Adundo used their influence at the hospital to steal the babies.
The judge added that by stealing and selling babies from the hospital, they lacked empathy and showed no remorse.
She ruled that Leparan would serve the first 25 years in prison and the ten years on probation but under close supervision.
The two convicts were also barred from handling any matters dealing with children in the future.
Both Leparan and Adundo were arrested following an expose by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which showed footage of children being stolen at Mama Lucy Hospital and sold on the streets of Nairobi.
The expose, which ran in 2020, exposed Leparan forging documents to sell a two-week-old baby to an undercover journalist who posed as an interested buyer.
The documentary also revealed an illegal facility where mothers gave birth and sold their babies to the buyer with the highest offer.
The case highlights the rise in cases of child trafficking in the country. According to Labour Cabinet Secretary Florence Bore, 6,841 children were reported missing between July 2022 and May 2023. Out of this, only 1,296 have been reunited with their families.
