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Zainabu Mino during her graduation . Right is Syprose Achieng', the woman who adopted Zainabu Mino Khadija 17 years ago at her hotel in Jua Kali area in Kisumu
She stares blankly into space, her mind seemingly occupied with many thoughts. For the past few weeks, life has thrown Syprose Achieng’ into a spin.
The pain of losing her adopted daughter, Zainab Khadija, whom she fondly referred to as “my mama,” for 16 years, is too much to bear.
On December 4, Khadija’s biological family allegedly ‘stole’ her, just hours after her graduation.
Achieng now believes that witchcraft was probably used to lure Khadija back to her family.
Speaking to The Nairobian, Achieng said that she adopted Khadija when she was six years old, and educated her despite financial constraints. She expressed joy that her daughter was finally graduating with a degree in Sociology and Literature.
“If all these years the family did not bother to find out about the girl, don’t you think they were using some dark powers to monitor her progress and after realising what she’s accomplished, they decided to claim her?” wondered Achieng, who hails from Nyalenda slums in Kisumu.
She recalls how her late husband, Charles Mino, bumped into young Khadija in the accompany of a middle-aged woman with a baby strapped on her back. They were begging for food and claimed they could not trace their way to their Kilifi home.
That was in 1999.
Mino instructed his wife to accommodate them before taking them to the police station the next day.
The search for their Kilifi home did not bear fruit.
A few weeks later, the woman, Khadija’s aunt, disappeared with the young baby, leaving Khadija behind. They schooled and provided for Khadija from age six alongside their four children. That was until December 4, when she graduated with a degree in Sociology and Literature when her parents appeared and took her away.
Khadija reportedly did not bid them farewell. “This is shocking and I have no answers to the many questions,” Achieng told The Nairobian amid sobs.
Khadija however chose not to dwell much on the matter when contacted.
Instead, she said she still loved her foster mother and that she will answer all questions in a book she is currently working on.
