In re SM (Baby) [2019] KEHC 1652 (KLR)
Full Case Text
REPUBLIC OF KENYA
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KENYA AT NAIROBI
ADOPTION CAUSE NO. 46 OF 2018 (OS)
IN THE MATTER OF THE CHILDREN’S ACT NO. 8 OF 2001
AND
IN THE MATTER OF ADOPTION OF SM
BY
BKK &HKG(APPLICANTS)
JUDGEMENT
1. Before court is an Originating Summons dated the 5th of April 2018, seeking for orders; -
a. That the applicantsBKK & HKGbe authorised to adopt BABYSM.
b. That upon adoption the child be known as SMK
c. That the Registrar- General do make appropriate entries in the Adopted Children register.
d. That DG & AWbe appointed legal guardians in respect of BABY SM.
2. By a ruling dated 21st June, 2018 the court appointed
BN as guardian ad litem and required the said guardian ad litem and the Director of Children’s Services Department to conduct a social enquiry on the Applicants’ fitness and the prevailing circumstances relating to this adoption and file their respective reports.
3. The necessary reports referred to in paragraph 2 above were filed
in court on 10th of September 2018 and 16th October 2018 respectively. Both reports highly recommended the Applicants as suitable and fit persons to be considered for the adoption.
4. The court was informed that the 1st applicant is aged 46 years and is a businessman. Whereas the 2nd Applicant is 48 years and also in business. The parties contracted customary marriage in 1998 and are yet to get a child of their own.
5. It is the desire to have a child that drove to seek to adopt a child they can nurture, provide a home to and provide all the basic needs. The two have adequate income. They currently residein Embakasi within Nairobi City which they own. They occupy three rooms. Part of the property is also rented out.
6. The child,Sis presumed to have been born on the 1st of July 2012. She was abandoned at age 4 by her parents after a disagreement in Kiambiu slams in a plot where the parents had moved into barely three weeks before the incident. A neighbour who discovered the child reported the matter to the police. A The child was committed to Imani Children’s Home as a child in need of care and protection on 13th April 2017. She was declared free for adoption on the on the 15th of November 2017 after efforts to trace her parents were fruitless. The child was placed with the Applicants for foster care from the 19th of November 2017 pending formal adoption. The child is said to be healthy and jovial. She attends [Particulars Withheld] Primary School.
7. The proposed legal guardian RNK & JWK, consented to being appointed as such and are ready to take up responsibility in the event the applicants are not there or are both incapacitated before the minor attains age of majority.
8. Against the above background I have formed the opinion that the
Applicants, BKK & HKGmeet the legal requirement necessary for an adoption order to issue. They are suitable and fit persons to adopt the child herein. The said adoption will be for the best interest of the child, who has found parents, who have provided a home and the much-needed love, care and attention he deserves.
9. The adoptive parents will henceforth rights and obligation of parents towards the child who now becomes their full responsibility with all rights of a child under the law, including the right to inherit the applicants.
10. On the other hand, the legal guardians will take full responsibility
over the child should the applicants both die or are incapacitated before the minor is of full age.
11. Consequently, I make the following orders.
a. That the ApplicantsLBKK & HKGbe and are hereby authorised to adopt BabySM
b.That the child’s name will upon this adoption beSMK
a. ThatRNK & JWKbe and are hereby appointed legal guardians of the child now to be known asSMK
c. That the Registrar General do enter this adoption in the adoption register.
d. The guardian ad litem be and is hereby discharged from the duties earlier conferred upon her by the court.
SIGNED DATED and DELIVERED in court this 28th day of Day of November, 2019.
.......................
ALI-ARONI
JUDGE
In the presence of:
Counsel for the Applicant………………………………………………………………..