[2020] KEHC 10354 (KLR)
The court found that the applicants had fulfilled all statutory requirements for adoption under the Children Act, 2001. The child was abandoned, declared free for adoption, and placed with the applicants, who demonstrated emotional, social, and financial stability. Reports from the guardian ad litem and the Director...
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- [2020] KEHC 10354 (KLR)
- Parties
- Applicant: AGW; Applicant: YNN; Respondent: Baby BG (to be known as HNN)
- Court
- High Court
- Court Station
- High Court at Nairobi (Milimani Law Courts)
- Jurisdiction
- Kenya
- Case Number
- Adoption Cause 44 of 2020
- Procedural Posture
- Adoption Cause / Judgment
- Outcome
- adoption granted
- Judges
- AO Muchelule
- Legal Topics
- Adoption Procedure, Child Welfare, Parental Rights
- Source Language
- en
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
AGW
Applicant
YNN
Applicant
Baby BG (to be known as HNN)
Respondent
Procedural Posture
Adoption Cause / Judgment
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether the applicants meet the legal requirements for adoption under the Children Act, 2001.
- 2 Whether the adoption is in the best interests of the child.
- 3 Whether all procedural safeguards and reports have been complied with.
Ratio Decidendi
The court found that the applicants had fulfilled all statutory requirements for adoption under the Children Act, 2001. The child was abandoned, declared free for adoption, and placed with the applicants, who demonstrated emotional, social, and financial stability. Reports from the guardian ad litem and the Director of Children Services confirmed the applicants' suitability and the positive bonding with the child. The court determined that adoption by the applicants was in the best interests of the child, ensuring her right to a family, inheritance, and parental care. The applicants were made aware of the finality and binding nature of the adoption order, and the child would be treated as...
Court Disposition
adoption granted
Orders
- The applicants AGW and YNN are allowed to adopt Child BG.
- Child BG shall henceforth be known as HNN.
Full Case Text
Judgment text and source record
25 paragraphs
REPUBLIC OF KENYA
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KENYA AT NAIROBI
FAMILY DIVISION
ADOPTION CAUSE NO. 44 OF 2020 (OS)
IN THE MATTER OF THE CHILDREN ACT, 2001
AND
IN THE MATTER OF BABY BG
IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION FOR ADOPTION BY
ANN.................................................................................................1ST APPLICANT
YNN................................................................................................2ND APPLICANT
JUDGMENT
1. The applicants AGW and YNN are a Kenyan couple aged 46 and 38, respectively. The 1st applicant is an aviation fuel technician while the 2nd applicant is a customer service agent. The parties solemnized their marriage on 15th August 2009. They have no child. They filed the originating summons dated 27th February 2020 seeking to jointly adopt Baby BG.
2. Baby BG is presumed to have been born on 9th July 2018. She was found abandoned on 23rd July 2018 at Kawangware Soko Mjinga in Nairobi. The incident was reported at Muthangari Police Station under OB number [xxxx]. The child was temporarily placed at House of Charity Children’s Home on the same day. The child was committed to the same Home on 26th September 2018 under Care and Protection Case Number 525 of 2018 by the Senior Resident Magistrate Children Court in Nairobi. According to the police the mother and relatives of the child were not traced. The child was declared free for adoption by Buckner Kenya Adoption Society on 3rd May 2019 under certificate number 0368 and placed with the applicants on 1st July 2019 for bonding. She has been with the applicants since.
3. The court on 24th September 2020 appointed JN as the guardian ad litem and ordered him to investigate the suitability of the applicants to adopt the child and to file a report within 45 days. A similar report was sought from the Director of Children Services. Both reports were duly filed, and each recommended that the applicants be allowed to adopt the child. The reports found that the applicants were socially, emotionally and financially stable and suitable to adopt the child. It was also found that the child and the applicants had bonded well.
4. The court finds that it is in the best interest of the child to be adopted by the applicants. The applicants have demonstrated their ability to provide a conducive home and family environment in which the child will grow and develop. They will assume all parental rights and obligations of the biological parents of the child once adopted, and shall treat her as if she was born to them. They have 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 their properties. The applicants shall not be able to give up the child owing to any subsequent unforeseen behaviour or other changes in the child.
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 applicants ANN and YNN are hereby allowed to adopt Child BG;
b) child BG shall henceforth be known as HNN;
c) the child shall be presumed to be Kenyan by birth having been born at Kawangware in Nairobi in Kenya;
d) NNM is hereby appointed to be the child’s legal guardian in the event of death or incapacity of the applicants 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 DELIVERED at NAIROBI this 3RD day of DECEMBER 2020
A.O. MUCHELULE
JUDGE