Baby GF was born in October 2016 but his mother sneaked away, abandoning him without any care, letting him into hands of well-wishers, surviving by luck.
But now at almost eight-years-old, the boy is now all smiles after a court allowed a couple to be his legal adoptive parents.
From a Kawangware clinic where he was born, the boy was first put into a children’s home that gave him infant care, seeing him grow before the couple came to his life.
A report on his abandonment incident was made to Muthangari Police Station on October 5, 2016, and was recorded as OB No. 18/5/10/16. On the same day, the Children’s Officer was informed of the incident and managed to secure a temporary placement for the child at New Life Home Trust for care and protection.
His name will now change to GAO after the High Court allowed MOO and NO, husband and wife, to be his legal parents.
The couple does not have a child of their own having been married customarily in 2015, but the man MOO has a girl aged eight he got from a previous union.
Court papers show the man works as a finance officer while the wife is a business woman, hence are assessed to have enough financial capacity to care for the minor.
In their application, the couple said they have lived with the minor for five years and they have the means to provide for the child.
The child was placed in the custody of the couple on October 13, 2017 for mandatory bonding prior to adoption as he had been in the continuous custody and care of the couple.
The clinic said no one has come forward to claim the child since he was rescued, making an adoption society to declare the child free for adoption pursuant to Section 156(1) of the Children Act on March 29, 2017.
Investigation and assessment by various actors in the child adoption chain adjudged the couple as friendly to the child and that they have firmly bonded to be entrusted with him.
Their capacity to provide for him, including taking him through schooling was also found to be solid.
“...the statutory report made [...] noted that the child has bonded well with the applicants since he has been in [their] care for five years and the applicants have shown parental commitment and willingness to give her a permanent, safe and loving home therefore proposed adoption of the child by the applicants, would be in the best interests of the child,” the court said.
“The applicants are of good health and financially capable of taking care of the child [and] have no criminal record...”
The court said in a decision dated March 22 that the couple had demonstrated seriousness and competence to be parents of the boy and that it was clear they came to rescue of the abandoned boy in his best interest.
“This is a local adoption. It is evident that the applicants have fulfilled all the legal requirements relative to the adoption of the child. The consent of the biological parents of the child was dispensed with since the child was abandoned at birth. This court has satisfied itself that the applicants are qualified and able to take care of the child,” it said.
