- Police raided a house in Kayole, Nairobi and rescued 16 children who they suspected were supposed to be smuggled.
- The children aged between two years and 16 included six girls.
Image: The Star
Police and a children's affairs agency are seeking to reunite the 16 children who were found in a house in Kayole, Nairobi with their parents.
They have asked the parents and guardians to produce identification documents to enable them to identify and reunite with the children.
It has emerged some of the parents knew their children were at home while others did not.
Nairobi police boss Adamson Bungei said they are investigating the motive of the presence of the children at the house where they were found.
“We understand some parents knew their children were there but we are investigating further on the same,” he said.
Missing Child Foundation Kenya sent a message saying the Directorate of Children's Services is currently undertaking a wellness assessment for the children and police are following due procedure on the matter.
“Information on next steps shall be released to the public officially. The children are in a safe space,” the agency said.
“If your child has been missing, visit Kayole Police Station with your ID, the Birth Certificate of the child and the OB Number you reported with.”
Police raided a house in Kayole, Nairobi and rescued 16 children who they suspected were supposed to be smuggled.
The children aged between two years and 16 included six girls.
Police said they arrested a Kenyan and Tanzanian national who were hosting the children in the Sunday, February 18 night operation.
It is believed the children had arrived from different parts of the country and Tanzania and were headed to an unknown destination, police said.
They were being held in a two-roomed house for the past weeks when police were alerted.
The children were later taken to a private children’s home in the area for care ahead of investigations.
Child smuggling and trafficking are rampant in the region. Some children are stolen and sold locally or out of the country.
The smugglers are powerful and moneyed hence the trend despite operations.
The trend is at times practised in hospitals where children go missing on birth.
Last year, a Nairobi court found two social workers at the Mama Lucy hospital guilty of child trafficking and neglect of duty.
Fred Leparan, a social worker, was caught in a well-planned plot to sell a child abandoned at Mama Lucy Hospital while negotiating with an undercover journalist.
Leparan was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Wednesday but will only serve 25 years in prison and 10 years on probation.
Selina Adundo, his accomplice, received a two-year non-custodial sentence or a fine of Sh100,000.
The prosecution told the court that between March 1, 2020, and November 16, 2020, at Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital in Embakasi Central within Nairobi, jointly with others not before the court they conspired to commit a felony of trafficking.
Police say they have a children’s desk to address the menace in various parts of the country.