In re JS (Baby) [2019] KEHC 12036 (KLR)

REPUBLIC OF KENYA

IN THE HIGH COURT OF KENYA AT NAIROBI

MILIMANI LAW COURTS

FAMILY DIVISION

ADOPTION CAUSE NO. 77 OF 2019 (O.S.)

IN THE MATTER OF THE CHILDREN ACT, 2001

AND

IN THE MATTER OF BABY JS

IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION FOR ADOPTION

BY

ROO..............................................................................1ST APPLICANT

MKM...........................................................................2ND APPLICANT

JUDGMENT

1. The applicants ROO and MKM are Kenyan nationals who got married on 6th June 2015 under the Marriage Act, 2014.  The 1st applicant is the Chief Executive Officer with the [Particulars Withheld] Council and the 2nd applicant is a master’s student at the [Particulars Withheld] University.  Their marriage has one child.  They filed this originating summons dated 14th May 2019 seeking to adopt Baby JS.

2. Baby JS was presumed to have been born on 14th August 2017.  He was on 21st August 2017 found abandoned within Githurai in Nairobi by a good samaritan who took him to Githurai Kimbo Police Station.  The matter was recorded under OB No. [xxxx].  The baby was admitted to New Life Home Trust on 22nd August 2017.  On 19th September 2018 he was formally committed to the care of the Home by the Children Court at Nairobi in Care and Protection Cause No 519 of 2018.  The baby was never claimed by his parents or relatives, and police efforts to trace them did not bear any fruits.  On 23rd November 2018 Buckner Kenya Adoption Services declared the child free for adoption and issued Certificate No. ]xxxx].  On 30th November 2018 the baby was handed over to the applicants for foster care.  He has been with them since then.

3. On 7th June 2018 the court appointed NN as guardian ad litem and ordered her and the Director of Children Services to separately inquire into the suitability of the applicants to adopt the child and to file report within 45 days.  Each filed a report recommending the applicants to be allowed to adopt the child.  They found that the applicants were socially, emotionally and financially stable and suitable to adopt the child.  It was also found that the child and the applicants had bonded well.

4. The court finds that it is in the best interest of the child to be adopted by the applicants.  The applicants have demonstrated their ability to provide a conducive home and family environment in which the child will grow and develop.  They will assume all parental rights and obligations of the biological parents of the child once adopted, and shall treat him as if he was born to them.  They have been made aware that once the adoption order is made, it shall be final and binding during the lifetime of the child.  The child shall have the right to inherit their property.  The applicants shall not be able to give up the child owing to any subsequent unforeseen behaviour or other changes in the child.  This court dispenses with the consent of the child’s parents because he was found abandoned.

5. Having been satisfied that all the legal requirements for a local adoption under the Children Act, 2001 have been met, the following orders shall issue:-

a) the applicants ROO and MKM are hereby allowed to adopt baby JS.;

b) baby JS shall henceforth be known as ISR;

c) the child’s date of birth shall be 14th August 2017, and shall be presumed Kenyan having been found abandoned at Githurai in Nairobi in Kenya;

d) MLO and COO are hereby appointed to be the child’s legal guardians in the event of the death or incapacity of the applicants before he is of full age and fully self-reliant;

e) the Registrar-General is directed to enter this adoption in the Adopted Children Register; and

f) the guardian ad litem is hereby discharged.

DATED and DELIVERED at NAIROBI this 28TH NOVEMBER 2019

A.O. MUCHELULE

JUDGE