Days after an American couple decried that a three-year-old Kenyan boy whom they have been taking care of was taken away from their custody; questions abound as to the state of adoption in Kenya.
The Kenyan-based US couple, Matt and Daisy Mazzoncini, noted that the child was taken away from their apartment in Westlands on April 5 by 11 DCI officers and they do not know of his whereabouts hitherto.
This, they add, is despite the fact that the Children's Court in 2017 granted them legal guardianship rights to the boy who is reportedly said to be sickly and in dire need of surgery in the US.
Daisy, a British who holds dual American citizenship and has been working in Kenya as a volunteer missionary since 2016 maintains that the boy suffers epileptic seizures which require him to be on "anti-seizure medicine three times a day."
The incident has since triggered a debate with sections of Kenyans wondering; what is the legal position of adoption in Kenya?
According to a senior official from the Child Welfare Society of Kenya (CWSK) who requested anonymity, it is no longer possible to adopt a child in Kenya. In fact, he cites, there is a moratorium placed on child adoption in Kenya since 2014.
“There is a moratorium on the adoption of Kenyan children by foreigners and this moratorium dates back to 2014, 26th of November,” the CWS official states adding that this is also the case for Kenyans who would wish to adopt.
In reference to the Mazzoncini’s case, the official notes that a guardianship right granted by the court is as far as it would go on matters adoption currently.
However, the official is quick to note that irrespective of the legal guardianship right granted by the court, “it does not stop the government from taking the child away and placing him/her in another appropriate care.”
The CWSK official further notes that foster care and guardianship rights granted by the Children's Court are temporary.
Poking holes into how the Mazzonccini’s ended up with the boy who reports indicate was rescued at a prayer centre in Kiambu, CWSK maintains that there was pre-selection which is against government principles on adoption.
“These people (Mazzonccini’s) identified a child for themselves from the children’s home. If all those people who have the intention of adopting children do such a thing, there would be a crisis. This is called pre-selection which is actually against the principles of the government. That is not allowed," added the official.
CWSK explains that pre-selection “compromises the best interests of the child” which includes the constitutional right to identity and to be a Kenyan.
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