The parents of three children who went missing three weeks ago will only get them back after convincing the court that they did not abandon the minors when they disappeared from home at Nyalenda in Kisumu.
The children from two families were found in Kibuye market and handed over to Mama Ngina Children's home early this week.
Their parents will Thursday appear before Winam Magistrate’s court to prove they were not responsible for the disappearance of the children and were capable of caring for Marion, 5, Yvonne, 3 and Gloria, 2.
Further, they will be required to produce documents showing they are the direct guardians.
The three who went missing on January 5, were found later that day and put under the care of Mama Ngina Children's Home through Winam Court the next day, according to the facility manager Francis Mbogo.
Details of the circumstances leading to their recovery in Kibuye Market, about five kilometres away, are yet to be revealed.
"We receive vulnerable children through the court, the magistrate, therefore may be the only custodian of information on where and how the children were found," said Mbogo.
On Thursday, mixed emotions were at play at the facility as the parents who had turned to divine and spiritual intervention to get back their children briefly reunited with them.
Tears rolled when they were told they could not immediately take back the children they had been pursuing for 17 days.
"The children can only leave our custody through the court. A production order will come from the court for us to avail them there so that the parents can prove that it was not their negligence that the minors got lost and they will be safe once released," Mbogo said.