In re F (Baby) [2017] KEHC 2400 (KLR)

REPUBLIC OF KENYA

IN THE HIGH COURT OF KENYA AT NAIROBI

(FAMILY DIVISION)

ADOPTION CAUSE NO. 26 OF 2015

IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION FOR ADOPTION OF BABY F

JUDGMENT

1. The applicant, J W M, is a Kenyan citizen. She is a single. She seeks to adopt Baby F. Her Originating Summons is dated 21st January 2015. The child in question was found abandoned at [particulars withheld] in South B area of Nairobi by a Good Samaritan. The matter was reported at the Industrial Area Police Station on 12th December 2012. She was taken Mama Ngina Children’s Home for care and protection on 12th December 2012 and was subsequently committed to that institution by the Nairobi Children’s Court. The child was freed for adoption by the Child Welfare Society of Kenya adoption society by their certificate number [particulars withheld] of 12th January 2015.

2. To facilitate this adoption, the applicant has been assessed by the Child Welfare Society of Kenya, the Director of Children Services and the guardian ad litemA W W. The three have compiled and filed their reports in court. The report of the Director of Children Services is dated 1st September 2016, while that of the guardian ad litemis dated 13th April 2017. There are two reports on record by the Child Welfare Society of Kenya, both dated 12th January 2015. All these reports are favourable and recommend the proposed adoption. The applicant has demonstrated that she has the financial and emotional capability and capacity to take care of the child. The child herself appears to have bonded well with her and she considers her to be her mother.

3. In the opinion of this court it would be in the best interests of the child that she is adopted by the applicant. The applicant will be able to provide a home and a family for the child to grow up in and thereafter be a useful member of the family. Consequently, the applicant shall assume all parental rights and duties of the biological parent in respect of the adopted child; she shall treat the adopted child as if she was born to her. The applicant has been made aware that once the adoption order is made it shall be final and binding during the lifetime of the child and that the child shall have the right to inherit her property. The applicant cannot give up the child owing to any subsequent unforeseen behaviour or other changes in the child.

4. I am satisfied that all the legal requirements for a local adoption have been met, and I therefore make the following orders:-

(a)That the applicant, J W M, is hereby allowed to adopt the child Baby F, who shall hereafter be known as T J N W;

(b)That the said child shall be presumed to be Kenyan by birth, and it is estimated that she was born on  9th December  2012;

(c)That N W M is hereby appointed legal guardian of the child in the event something untoward happens to the applicant;

(d)That the Registrar-General is hereby directed to enter this adoption order in the adoption register; and

(e)That the guardian ad litemis hereby discharged.

DATED, SIGNED and DELIVERED at NAIROBI this 3RD DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2017.

W. MUSYOKA

JUDGE