Two officers who were accused of trafficking children at Mama Lucy Hospital have a case to answer.
Milimani Law Courts Principal Magistrate Esther Kimilu found two employees of Nairobi Metropolitan Services charged with trafficking babies from Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital with a case to answer.
The two suspects, Makallah Fred Leparan and Selina Awuor Adundo are charged with stealing three infants from Mama Lucy Kibaki hospital on diverse dates between March and November 2020.
The three infants were aged: 8 days, 2 weeks and 2 months respectively.
In reading the ruling, the Magistrate said the prosecution had proved their case beyond reasonable doubt that indeed the two NMS employees, knowingly caused the three children to be in need of care and protection by failing to protect them.=
According to the Law, after this ruling, the two suspects will take the stand on March 7,2023 to prove their innocence before the court retires to write Judgement.
Mr. Makallah Fred Leparan informed the Court that during his defense, he will give unsworn evidence with his co-accused Selina Awuor Adundo choosing to give sworn evidence.
According to Mr Magaka, a BBC reporter and the key prosecution witness in the case, the three babies had been abandoned at the Hospital by their mothers and were later taken by the administration for treatment and care.
In the first instance, video was played in Court during the hearing of the case.
Mr. Leparan is seen going into the hospital, and then coming out to meet a woman, who is then handed the baby by a nurse before she drives off.
The deal was sealed after several meetings between the journalist, and Mr Leparan.
Mr Leparan allegedly received three bundles of Sh100,000 each from the buyers. Before handing over the baby boy to the woman, Mr Leparan had asked the woman what gender she preferred, to which she replied that gender did not matter. Mr Leparan was asked by the BBC reporter who had pretended to be a buyer whether the baby was healthy, and he replied that he was, thus “confirming his intent to steal and sell the child”.
