[2016] KEHC 7427 (KLR)
The court found that the applicant, G N, had satisfied all statutory requirements for adoption under the Children.s Act. The child, Baby A, was abandoned and all reasonable efforts to trace her biological parents had failed. The applicant had demonstrated the financial and emotional capacity to care for the child,...
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- [2016] KEHC 7427 (KLR)
- Parties
- Applicant: G N; Respondent: Baby A (to be known as M N)
- Court
- High Court
- Court Station
- High Court at Nairobi (Milimani Law Courts)
- Jurisdiction
- Kenya
- Case Number
- Adoption Cause 208 of 2014
- Procedural Posture
- Adoption Cause / Judgment
- Outcome
- Adoption granted.
- Judges
- DN Musyoka
- Legal Topics
- Adoption Procedure, Child Abandonment, Best Interests of Child
- Source Language
- en
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
G N
Applicant
Baby A (to be known as M N)
Respondent
Procedural Posture
Adoption Cause / Judgment
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether the applicant meets the legal requirements to adopt Baby A under the Children.s Act.
- 2 Whether the adoption is in the best interests of the child as required by law.
- 3 Whether due process regarding abandonment and efforts to trace the biological parents was followed.
Ratio Decidendi
The court found that the applicant, G N, had satisfied all statutory requirements for adoption under the Children.s Act. The child, Baby A, was abandoned and all reasonable efforts to trace her biological parents had failed. The applicant had demonstrated the financial and emotional capacity to care for the child, and all statutory reports from the adoption society, guardian ad litem, and Director of Children Services were favourable. The court determined that the adoption was in the best interests of the child, who had bonded with the applicant and would benefit from a stable family environment. The applicant was made aware of the finality of the adoption order and the child.s right to...
Court Disposition
Adoption granted.
Orders
- The applicant, G N, is authorized to adopt Baby A, who shall be known as M N.
- E W and W M are appointed as legal guardians of the child in the event of misfortune befalling the applicant during the child.s minority.
Full Case Text
Judgment text and source record
19 paragraphs
REPUBLIC OF KENYA
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KENYA AT MILIMANI
ADOPTION CAUSE NO. 208 OF 2014 (OS)
AND
IN THE MATTER OF THE CHILDREN’S ACT
(NO. 8 OF 2001)
AND
IN THE MATTER OF BABY A
JUDGEMENT
The applicant, G N, is of Kenyan nationality. By her Originating Summons dated 5th September 2014, she seeks to adopt a female known for the purpose of these proceedings as Baby A.
The subject child, Baby A, was abandoned by her birth mother at a hair salon on 3rd April 2012 at Langas, Eldoret. The matter of the abandonment was reported at the Yamumbi Police Station, where the child was taken by the woman at whose salon she had been abandoned. The child was then estimated to have been born on the date of her abandonment. She was admitted at the Barnados Children’s Home in Nairobi for care and protection, where she was later formally committed by the Nairobi Children’s Court. Police records availed in court indicate that efforts to locate the birth mother of the child were unsuccessful. The child was placed with the applicant on 7th March 2013.
This adoption is being arranged by the Kenya Children’s Homes adoption society. The said adoption agency declared the child free for adoption by their certificate of 12th February 2013.
To facilitate this adoption, the applicant has been assessed by the Kenya Children’s Homes, the guardian ad litem, Geraldine Wangechi Ndua and the Director of Children Services. All three have compiled and filed their reports in court. The report by the Director of Children Services is dated 8th July 2013, while that by the Kenya Children’s Homes is dated 31st July 2014. The report of the guardian ad litem is dated 13th April 2015.
All these reports are favourable and recommend the proposed adoption. The applicant has demonstrated that she has the financial capacity and emotional capability and capacity to take care of the child. The child appears to have bonded well with her and she considers her to be her parent.
In the opinion of this court it would be in the best interests of the child that she is adopted by the applicant. The applicant will be able to provide a home and a family for the child to grow up in and thereafter become a useful member of the family and the society at large. Consequently, the applicant shall assume all parental rights and duties of the biological parents in respect of the adopted child; she shall treat the adopted child as if he was born to her. The applicant has been made aware that once the adoption order is made it shall be final and binding during the lifetime of the child and that the child shall have the right to inherit her property. The applicant cannot give up the child owing to any subsequent unforeseen behaviour or other changes in the child.
Consequently, I hereby allow the applicant, G N, to adopt Baby A to be known hereafter as M N. I hereby appoint E W and W M, the child’s legal guardians should misfortune befall the applicant during the child’s minority. The child is hereby presumed to be Kenyan by birth as she was found abandoned within Kenya. I direct the Registrar-General to enter this adoption order in the adoption register. The guardian ad litemis hereby discharged.
DATED, SIGNED and DELIVERED at NAIROBI this 5TH DAY OF FEBRUARY, 2016.
W. MUSYOKA
JUDGE