[2020] KEHC 2844 (KLR)
The court found that the applicant met all statutory requirements for adoption, including being declared free for adoption by a registered society, and that the applicant is financially, physically, and emotionally capable of caring for the child. The reports from the guardian ad litem, Children Officer, and...
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- [2020] KEHC 2844 (KLR)
- Parties
- Applicant: DWN
- Court
- High Court
- Court Station
- High Court at Kiambu
- Jurisdiction
- Kenya
- Case Number
- Adoption Cause 32 of 2018
- Procedural Posture
- Adoption Cause / Judgment
- Outcome
- adoption granted
- Judges
- CW Meoli
- Legal Topics
- Adoption of Children, Best Interests of Child, Abandoned Children, Local Adoption, Guardianship, Child Welfare
- Source Language
- en
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
DWN
Applicant
Procedural Posture
Adoption Cause / Judgment
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether the applicant qualifies to adopt the minor under Kenyan law.
- 2 Whether the adoption is in the best interests of the child as required by the Constitution and the Children Act.
- 3 Whether due process for declaring the child free for adoption was followed.
Ratio Decidendi
The court found that the applicant met all statutory requirements for adoption, including being declared free for adoption by a registered society, and that the applicant is financially, physically, and emotionally capable of caring for the child. The reports from the guardian ad litem, Children Officer, and adoption agency were all supportive, confirming the applicant's suitability and the positive home environment. The court determined that the adoption would serve the best interests of the child, who had been abandoned and had since bonded with the applicant. Accordingly, the court granted the adoption as prayed in the Originating Summons.
Court Disposition
adoption granted
Orders
- The applicant is authorized to adopt the minor LT as prayed in prayers 1 to 4 of the Originating Summons.
Full Case Text
Judgment text and source record
17 paragraphs
REPUBLIC OF KENYA
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KENYA AT KIAMBU
ADOPTION CAUSE NO 32 OF 2018
IN THE MATTER OF ADOPTION OF BABY L. T
BY
DWN............................................................................APPLICANT
JUDGMENT
1. A motor cycle rider, one BA was in Molo town when approached by a woman on the evening of 23rd July 2017 ostensibly to hire his services as a boda boda cyclist. The woman had a child with her. She gave the child to him and apparently excused herself and left for a brief errand promising but never to return. After a while waiting, BA began searching for the woman in the town. Not tracing her, he reported to Molo Police Station vide OB No. 45/23/7/2017.
2. The abandoned female child LT then an infant aged about 7 months was handed over to police. On 25/07/17 LT was admitted to New Life Trust Home Nakuru and the Children’s Court Molo committed the subject minor to the home on 30th August 2017, in Care and Protection Case No. 85 of 2017. Later she was transferred to New Life Trust Home in Nairobi. Efforts to trace the mother were unsuccessful and nobody came forward to claim LT She was declared free for adoption by Little Angels Network on 4/5/18 vide certificate No.001986. On 22. 6.18 LT was placed in the care of DWN the Applicant herein, under a care agreement. The subject minor has been in Applicant’s care since then.
3. The Applicant has now moved the court to adopt LT. The Applicant is female and single. She is 55 years old and has no children of her own. She works as a lecturer at Uxxxxx University and earns a gross of over KShs.260,000/= per month. She owns several pieces of land. She ascribes to the Christian faith and resides in a rented flat along Kiambu Road.
4. The guardian ad litem, and the Children Officer, Kiambu County have filed reports pursuant to the order of the court on 24/6/19. Also on record is the social enquiry report by Little Angels Network, the adoption agency. The court has reviewed the reports and other material on record. All the reports are supportive of the proposed adoption.
5. It appears from the reports and other material on record that the Applicant is financially stable, physically and emotionally healthy. She has demonstrated capacity to care for and provide for the subject during the period of the care agreement. She has strong family bonds with her siblings and indeed the proposed legal guardians are her younger brother and his wife. The extended family supports the adoption. She also enjoys an extended social support network in her church group.
6. The report by the Children Office indicates that the Applicant and the subject have bonded well. The Applicant’s motivation for the proposed adoption is her desire to have her own child to care for. The reports describe the home environment at the Applicant’s residence positively, the guardian ad litem especially pointing out that the subject minor has thrived under the Applicant’s care.
7. Reviewing all the available material, the court is persuaded that the proposed adoption serves the subject minor’s best interests. See Article 53 of the Constitution and Section 4(3) of the Children Act. The Applicant qualifies for a local adoption and appears eminently suited as an adoptive mother having demonstrated capacity to care for and provide for the subject. The subject minor will benefit from being raised in a loving home in which her needs are catered for. In the circumstances, the court will grant the Originating Summons filed on in terms of prayers 1 to 4.
SIGNED AND DELIVERED ELECTRONICALLY THIS 2ND DAY OF OCTOBER 2020.
C. MEOLI
JUDGE