A Nairobi court has convicted two former Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital workers over child trafficking scandal at the public facility three years ago.
In a judgement rendered by Milimani Principal Magistrate Esther Kimilu on Thursday, September 6, 2023, convicted the two social workers namely Fred Leopara Makalla and Celina Awuor Adundo after finding them guilty of offences of conspiracy to commit a felony, child trafficking and negligence.
Makallah and Awuor had been charged with stealing three infants from the hospital on diverse dates between March and November 2020.
The three infants were aged eight days, two weeks and two months, respectively.
The arrest of the two workers on May 18, 2020, followed an exposé dubbed 'The Baby Stealers' that aired on BBC Africa. It showed how child trafficking was rife at the public health facility.
The three children were stolen from the hospital and passed on to third parties at a fee. According to the BBC Eye exposé, a gang of organised criminals had been stealing children from homeless mothers and selling them for as little as Ksh45,000.
While convicting Makalla, Kimilu ruled that the prosecution adduced overwhelming evidence that he held three meetings for the purpose of the sale of a child that was abandoned at the facility.
"My determination is that the first accused (Makalla) is guilty of conspiracy to commit a felony and count two of trafficking persons. He is according to convicted," the magistrate ruled.
However, the magistrate acquitted Awour on the two counts as she was not mentioned in any of the CCTV footage adduced in court by the prosecution on the sale of one of the three children.
But the court convicted Awour and Makalla on the charge of negligence.
Kimilu, in her decision, said that the two employees failed to protect the infants said to have been trafficked.
"I find the Prosecution has proved a prima facie case against the accused persons herein and l according to the law convict them, " Kimilu ruled.
During the hearing of the case, Peter Murimi Magaka, a BBC reporter and the key prosecution witness in the case informed the court that the three babies had been abandoned at the hospital by their mothers and were later taken by the administration for treatment and care.
In his evidence, he narrated how Makallah, who is a social worker at the hospital, pocketed Ksh300,000 from him pretending to be a buyer.
Murimi, a director and producer of the film "The Baby Stealers" aired on BBC in 2020, told the court that Ksh300,000 was put on the table at the request of Makalla
In the first instance, a video clip played in court during the hearing of the case, Makallah is seen going into the hospital, 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 Makallah.
Makallah allegedly received three bundles of Ksh100,000 each all totalling Ksh 300, 000 from the buyers before handing over the baby boy to the woman.
Makallah had asked the woman the gender she preferred, to which she replied that gender did not matter.
He (Makallah) was asked by the BBC reporter who had pretended to be a buyer whether the baby was healthy, and he replied that he was thereby confirming his intent to steal and sell the child.
In 2021, DPP Noordin Haji dropped charges against Dr Musa Mohammed Ramadhan who was then a medic at the hospital and turned him into a State witness.
The magistrate has ordered two be detained in custody pending a pre-sentencing report.
