Two hospital staff at Mama Lucy found guilty of child trafficking
Nairobi
By
Paul Ogemba
| Sep 06, 2023
Two social workers at Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital have been found guilty of child trafficking and neglect of duty.
Nairobi Senior Principal Magistrate Esther Kimilu ruled that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that Fred Makallah and Selina Awuor neglected the three children who had been abandoned at the hospital and conspired to ‘sell’ them.
“The two knew they had a duty of care to the children but they failed the duty. I am satisfied that the prosecution has proved the case and find them guilty as charged,” ruled Kimilu.
The magistrate found Makallah as the architect of the scandal and was convicted on two counts of conspiracy to commit a felony by trafficking persons and neglect of a child. Awuor was found guilty of one count of child neglect.
READ MORE
Disquiet as some millers flout plastic packaging order
Traders now raise fears of higher food prices as floods wreak havoc
How State regulation bit off Sh2.8b from Safaricom profits
No country for young people: How old guard hangs on to State jobs
Finance Bill: E-mobility, local phones makers face setbacks
Shilling predicted to strengthen further
Pump prices drop by Sh1 in latest Epra review
Mutua asks Senate to drop Wildlife Conservation and Management Bill
How culture silently influences and shapes organisational success
Empowering mothers financially key to boosting kenya's economy
Makallah and Awuor faced a total of five charges of child theft, trafficking in persons, and neglect of official duties leading to the disappearance of three babies at Mama Lucy Hospital between March and November 2020.
In the first count, they faced a charge of conspiracy to commit a felony where they were said to have jointly engaged in the illegal business of trafficking children.
Makallah, who investigators claimed was the face behind the child trafficking after being captured in a broadcast by British Broadcasting Corporation negotiating with an undercover journalist to sell a child who had been abandoned at the hospital faced three additional counts of trafficking children.
“On diverse dates between April 2020 and May 2020 at Mama Lucy Hospital in Nairobi you received and transferred three children aged between 2 days and two months for the purpose of abusing the vulnerability of the said children,” read the charge sheet.
On the count of neglecting official duties, Awuor were accused of failing to stop Makallah from trafficking the three children despite being aware that he was engaging in child theft.
The magistrate set September 26 for sentencing.
- Pump prices drop by Sh1 in latest Epra review
- Finance Bill: E-mobility, local phones makers face setbacks
- Traders now raise fears of higher food prices as floods wreak havoc
- Shilling predicted to strengthen further
- Queries over McKinsey contract in Kenya's e-mobility transition