An eight-month-old baby who was reportedly found abandoned in Ol Kalou last week was reunited with her mother on Wednesday.
It later emerged that the baby was stolen by the two people who 'found' her last Friday.
The suspects, Mary Wacuka and her boyfriend Danson Machira, told police in Ol Kalou that they found the baby near a railway at Kiyuu area.
The baby was taken to J.M. Memorial Hospital as police sought for her parents.
Wacuka abducted the baby from her employer in Embakasi and travelled with her to Ol Kalou.
She left the baby along the railway line then called her boyfriend and as they walked the same route, they came across the baby.
Wacuka is said to have kidnapped the baby after her employer failed to pay her Sh3,000.
She was arrested on Tuesday as she went to check on the baby at the hospital.
Irene Kendi, the mother, said last Thursday she left the baby with Wacuka as she went to City Cabanas where she sells eggs and smokies.
THREATENING MESSAGES
At 3.08pm, Kendi received a text message from Wacuka telling her to send Sh40,000 if she wanted the baby back, otherwise a client would buy the baby for Sh100,000.
"I rushed home and to my shock [Wacuka] and the baby were gone. I reported the matter at Embakasi police station and the DCI started tracing her," she said.
Kendi said Wacuka used different phone numbers to send her threatening SMSs written in a mixture of Sheng and Kiswahili.
"Xai unajua 2ko wapi 2ko karibu nampaka wa ug," one of the texts seen by The Star read.
This roughly translates to, "Do you know where we are at the moment? We're near the Kenya-Uganda border."
Kendi said Wacuka worked for her for three months and they had been living well together. She said she met Wacuka at City Cabanas where she was living with a man only identified as Boni.
She denied claims that she declined to pay Wacuka Sh3,000 as the due date was December 10.
"She told me she did not have an identification card. She used to say she was 22-years-old. She planned to travel to Nyahururu to acquire the card in December," Kendi said.
TRAFFICKING CARTEL
Women who spoke to The Star at the hospital said Wacuka cried when she and Machira left the baby at the facility.
They said the baby was good and was adored by everyone.
"We treated her like our own child. We were worried that if we left before her parents were found, she would suffer," one said.
Nyandarua children's officer Peter Chege said the matter requires a deep probe "as it appears there is a cartel trafficking children".
He handed the baby over to Kendi after positive identification.
Wacuka was handed over to the Embakasi DCI on Wednesday.
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