[2018] KEHC 9183 (KLR)
The court found that the applicant had demonstrated special circumstances as required by section 158(2)(b) of the Children Act, namely that she was the only person available to adopt the child. The court was satisfied with the recommendations of the adoption agency and the attached guidelines. The applicant had...
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- [2018] KEHC 9183 (KLR)
- Parties
- Applicant: S M A
- Court
- High Court
- Court Station
- High Court at Nairobi (Milimani Law Courts)
- Jurisdiction
- Kenya
- Case Number
- Adoption Cause 186 of 2017
- Procedural Posture
- Adoption Cause / Ruling
- Outcome
- adoption granted
- Judges
- AO Muchelule
- Legal Topics
- Adoption of Children, Special Circumstances, Parental Rights, Child Welfare
- Source Language
- en
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
S M A
Applicant
Procedural Posture
Adoption Cause / Ruling
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether the applicant, a single female, should be allowed to adopt a male child under section 158(2)(b) of the Children Act given the requirement for special circumstances.
- 2 Whether the best interests of the child are served by granting the adoption order.
Ratio Decidendi
The court found that the applicant had demonstrated special circumstances as required by section 158(2)(b) of the Children Act, namely that she was the only person available to adopt the child. The court was satisfied with the recommendations of the adoption agency and the attached guidelines. The applicant had shown her ability to provide a suitable home and family environment for the child. The court determined that the adoption was in the best interests of the child, who had been abandoned and had no known biological parents. The legal requirements for a local adoption under the Children Act were met, and the applicant was made aware of the finality and binding nature of the adoption...
Court Disposition
adoption granted
Orders
- The applicant S M A is hereby allowed to adopt Child A. alias S.
- Child A. alias S. shall henceforth be known as Z M A.
Full Case Text
Judgment text and source record
26 paragraphs
REPUBLIC OF KENYA
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KENYA AT NAIROBI
MILIMANI LAW COURTS
FAMILY DIVISION
ADOPTION CAUSE NO. 186 OF 2017
IN THE MATTER OF THE CHILDREN ACT, 2001
AND
IN THE MATTER OF ADOPTION OF CHILD A. ALIAS S.
AND
IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION FOR ADOPTION BY
S M A ............................. APPLICANT
RULING
1. The applicant is a single female applicant seeking to adopt a male child. In the judgment issued by this court on 3rd May 2018, the court directed the applicant to file a further affidavit indicating the special circumstances under section 158(2) (b) of the Children Act why she should be allowed to adopt the child.
2. On 15th May 2018 the applicant filed a letter signed by Whitney Msingo, a social worker at Kenyans for Kenyans Peace Initiative (K.K.P.I), stating that the special circumstance applicable to this case was that the applicant was the only person available to adopt the child. The letter further attached guidelines for special circumstances for prospective adoptive parents adopting children of the opposite gender.
3. I have looked at the guidelines attached to the above referenced letter and the recommendation by the adoption agency KKPI. The recommendations are satisfactory.
4. The court finds that it is in the best interests of the child to be adopted by the applicant. The applicant has demonstrated her ability to provide a conducive home and family environment in which the child will grow and develop. She will assume all parental rights and obligations of the biological parents of the child once adopted, and shall treat him as if he was borne to her. She has been made aware that once the adoption order is made, it shall be final and binding during the lifetime of the child. The child shall have the right to inherit her property. The applicant shall not be able to give up the child owing to any subsequent unforeseen behaviour or other changes in the child. This court dispenses with the consent of the child’s biological parents as the child was found abandoned.
5. Having been satisfied that all the legal requirements for a local adoption under the Children Act have been met, the following orders shall issue:-
a) the applicant S M A is hereby allowed to adopt Child A. alias S.;
b) Child A. alias S. shall henceforth be known as Z M A;
c) the child’s date of birth shall be 10th June 2014, and the child shall be presumed Kenyan by birth having been found abandoned at Garissa County Referral Hospital in Kenya;
d) U A is hereby appointed to be the child’s legal guardians in the event of death or incapacity of the applicant before she is of full age and fully self-reliant;
e) the Registrar-General is directed to enter this adoption in the Adopted Children Register; and
f) the guardian ad litem is hereby discharged.
DATED and SIGNED at NAIROBI this 31st day of MAY 2018
A.O. MUCHELULE
JUDGE