- DCI boss Kinoti said he was guided by the best interests of the child
- The child was taken away by two women with faces covered on April 5.
Image: COURTESY
The fate of a sickly Kenyan child taken away from his American guardians on April 5 remains unknown.
The three-year-old boy, who is epileptic and has chest and neurological complications, was seized by DCI from the home of Matthew and Daisy Mazzoncini in Westlands.
The Director Criminal Investigations, George Kinoti, personally put a top officer Baraza Walimoli in charge of the 'rescue' operation, according to WhatsApp conversations seen by the Star.
Image: VICTOR IMBOTO
The Childrens Court in Nairobi appointed the Mazzoncinis as guardians of the boy in April 2017.
The Mazzoncinis have since then taken care of the child including spending Sh11 million on medical treatment for epilepsy and other conditions.
On Monday the Mazzoncinis filed a fresh habeas corpus application in the Nairobi Children’s Court after realising that the first application was in the wrong court. Habeas corpus means 'produce the body' in Latin.
James Gitau Singh, the new lawyer for the Mazzoncinis, told the Star yesterday that the search for the missing child has so far been unsuccessful.
As things stand now, all searches in police stations are fruitless and no information is coming from the DCIames Gitau Singh, the new lawyer for the Mazzoncinis
The child was taken away by two women with covered faces. They did not take with them his prescribed medicines and efforts to leave the drugs at Spring Valley police station by the parents were resisted by the station’s OCS until the American embassy intervened.
It is not clear whether the child is taking the anti-seizure drugs as required. His guardians are worried that the boy may suffer fits unless the drugs are administered regularly and correctly.
Kenya National Commission of Human Rights chairperson Kagwiria Mbogori complained of impunity.
“While all the tussles between the couple and the Children Welfare Society of Kenya continue, no one seems to be paying attention to the state of this child,” she said. “Who cares for this fragile child? He is sick and has been sickly for all of his time on earth.”
Mbogori said that the police were wrong to take the child from his legal guardians when the court order of guardianship had not been revoked.
Image: COURTESY
“The couple has spent a humongous amount of money in caring for this child, whose real mother dumped him alongside his twin in a plastic bag,” Mbogori told the Star.
“There are valid court orders and valid medical records. If the welfare thinks they were fabricated, why not charge the couple with a criminal offence but let the child be and his care continue? This is inhuman treatment,” she said.
A top official from the Children Welfare Society last week told the Star they wanted the legal guardianship reviewed. He alleged that Daisy Mazzoncini had impeded independent review of the medical history of the child.
The CWS chief executive Irene Mureithi has not been available for comment. Her personal assistant has said several times that she was in a meeting “which will not be ending soon.”
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