In re KMG alias KA [2023] KEHC 18946 (KLR)

In re KMG alias KA (Adoption Cause 1 of 2015) [2023] KEHC 18946 (KLR) (15 June 2023) (Judgment)

Neutral citation: [2023] KEHC 18946 (KLR)

Republic of Kenya

In the High Court at Nanyuki

Adoption Cause 1 of 2015

AK Ndung'u, J

June 15, 2023

IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION FOR AN ADOPTION ORDER

AND

IN THE MATTER OF KMG alias KA

In the matter of

SKR

1st Applicant

SGP

2nd Applicant

Judgment

1. The applicants herein, SKR and SGP, have applied by originating summons dated November 3, 2015 for an adoption order in respect to the child known as KA. Other consequential orders are also sought, including the order that if the adoption order sought is granted, the child be henceforth known as KMG.

2. The applicants are a married couple married under Christian marriage having solemnized their marriage in the year 1999. They are Kenyan citizens and living in Kenya. The couple has one biological child of their own known as I.K

3. The child sought to be adopted was abandoned at Muthaiga Estate in Nanyuki on July 30, 2013. The matter was reported to Nanyuki Police Station, and thereafter, the child was admitted to New Life Home Trust-Nyeri on July 31, 2013 and on January 15, 2014, the child was formally committed to that homevide Nanyuki Children’s Court Protection and Care Case No 99 of 2013.

4. Vide a letter dated February 17, 2014, Nanyuki Police Station confirmed that the effort to trace the parents and relatives of the child has been futile. On May 14, 2014, the child was placed under the care, protection and custody of the applicants, and has been in their continuous and unbroken care, protection and custody up to the present. Nobody has ever come forward to claim the child who was declared free for adoption by a certificate dated April 30, 2014.

5. Upon perusal of all the material placed before the court, I am satisfied that all legal requirements for the adoption order sought have been met. I have also read all the necessary reports filed herein, including-i.Pre-placement report dated February 26, 2014 from Little Angels Network.ii.The report by the District Children’s Officer, Laikipia County, dated May 30, 2017. All these reports are favourable to the adoption order sought.

6. I have considered the personal circumstances of the applicants, including their current occupations, incomes and social standing. From the material placed before this court, the applicants have no history of any medical complications that can hinder them from giving the child quality upbringing. The applicants are also said to be committed christians and members of Full Gospel Church. They are described by the Adoption Society as a united couple that supports each other. The Society also described them as socially and financially stable able to cater for the needs of the child.

7. I am persuaded that the applicants not only have the will to adopt the child as their own biological child, but they have also demonstrated that they have the means to provide him with shelter, clothing, food, education and, most importantly, the parental care and protection that he needs and deserves. I have no doubt at all that they have provided and will continue to provide to the child a conducive home for wholesome upbringing.

8. Finally, I am satisfied that the applicants are financially and materially capable of giving a good and proper upbringing to the child, and are already providing him with a conducive and loving home. The adoption order sought is in the best interest of the welfare of the child.

9. I will in the circumstances grant the adoption order sought. The applicants be and are hereby authorized to adopt KA who shall henceforth be known as KMG. The child having been born in Kenya, is obviously a Kenyan citizen. The Registrar-General is hereby directed to enter this adoption order in the Adopted Children’s Register. It is so ordered.

DATED SIGNED AND DELIVERED AT NANYUKI THIS 15THDAY OF JUNE 2023A. K. NDUNG’UJUDGE