[2021] KEHC 12762 (KLR)
The court found that the applicants had satisfied all legal requirements for a local adoption under the Children Act, 2001. The child was abandoned, and efforts to trace her biological parents were unsuccessful, justifying the dispensation of parental consent. Reports from the guardian ad litem and the Director of...
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- [2021] KEHC 12762 (KLR)
- Parties
- Applicant: EWW; Applicant: JOO; Guardian Ad Litem: FDAO; Respondent: Director of Children Services
- Court
- High Court
- Court Station
- High Court at Nairobi (Milimani Law Courts)
- Jurisdiction
- Kenya
- Case Number
- Adoption Cause 174 of 2019
- Procedural Posture
- Adoption Cause / Judgment
- Outcome
- adoption granted
- Judges
- AO Muchelule
- Legal Topics
- Adoption Procedure, Best Interests of Child, Parental Rights and Obligations
- Source Language
- en
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
EWW
Applicant
JOO
Applicant
FDAO
Guardian Ad Litem
Director of Children Services
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 the consent of the biological parents is necessary given the abandonment of the child.
Ratio Decidendi
The court found that the applicants had satisfied all legal requirements for a local adoption under the Children Act, 2001. The child was abandoned, and efforts to trace her biological parents were unsuccessful, justifying the dispensation of parental consent. Reports from the guardian ad litem and the Director of Children Services confirmed the applicants' suitability and the child's positive integration into their family. The court determined that adoption by the applicants was in the best interests of the child, ensuring her right to a family, inheritance, and a stable environment. The applicants were made aware of the finality and binding nature of the adoption order, and the child...
Court Disposition
adoption granted
Orders
- The applicants EWW and JOO are allowed to adopt Baby NKJ.
- Baby NKJ shall henceforth be known as CSNW.
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. 174 OF 2019 (OS)
IN THE MATTER OF THE CHILDREN ACT, 2001
AND
IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION FOR AN ADOPTION OF BABY NKJ
IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION FOR ADOPTION BY
EWW..........................1ST APPLICANT
JOO...........................2ND APPLICANT
JUDGMENT
1. The applicants EWW and JOO are Kenyan citizens who are aged 43 and 45, respectively. The 1st applicant is a lawyer and the 2nd applicant is a clinical psychologist. They got married on 10th December 2011 at [Particulars Withheld] at Ngong Road in Nairobi. The marriage has not been blessed with a child. The couple filed this originating summons dated 6th December 2019 seeking to be allowed to adopt Baby NKJ.
2. Baby NKJ was born to one MJ at Machakos Level 5 Hospital on 23rd August 2016. On 28th September 2016 the mother abandoned the child at the ward and disappeared. The incident was reported at Machakos Police Station vide OB No. [….]. The child was subsequently committed to Mama Ngina Children’s Home by the Children Court at Machakos in Protection and Care Case No. [….]. Police efforts to trace the child’s mother or relatives were unsuccessful. On 31st August 2017 the child was declared free for adoption by the Child Welfare Society who issued certificate No. [….]. On 29th September 2017 the child was placed in the care of the applicants. She has been with them since.
3. On 17th September 2020 the court appointed FDAO as the guardian ad litem to the child. She and the Director of Children Services were directed to each investigate the suitability of the applicants to adopt the child and to file a report within 45 days. Each filed a report recommending the applicants to adopt the child. The reports found that the applicants were socially, emotionally and financially fit to adopt the child. The child was found to have bonded well with them.
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 capability 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 property. The applicants 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 parents as she 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 applicants EWW and JOO are hereby allowed to adopt Baby NKJ.;
b) Baby NKJ shall henceforth be known as CSNW;
c) the child’s date of birth shall be 23rd September 2016, and shall be presumed to be a Kenyan citizen having been abandoned at Level 5 Hospital Ward at Machakos County in Kenya;
d) that LML and MNW are hereby appointed as the child’s legal guardians in the event of the 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 electronically NAIROBI this 25TH MARCH 2021
A.O. MUCHELULE
JUDGE