This archive report was first published on 19 June 2020.
June 19, 2020
Mathira, Nyeri County, is home to a couple who has been forced to make an unimaginable decision due to financial struggles. Mr. Samuel Ndung'u and his wife, Nyambura, have been surviving on menial jobs, and with no source of income, they have decided to give up their two children.
The couple, who have been married for slightly over five years, says the decision to give up their offspring was painful but was in the best interest of the children. Their youngest child is 10 months old, and the oldest is five years. Their other child is living with a relative.
Mr. Ndung'u and his wife have appealed for any kind of help, but if none comes along, they say they will give away their children and then figure out how to survive thereafter. On most days, a healthy meal does not come by, and they need to beg, but this is becoming too difficult.
Meanwhile, in Naromoru, a 26-year-old single mother of five, Esther Ekale, is in police custody over allegations that she sold her five-year-old daughter for Sh28,580. Police reports show that Ms. Ekale sold her daughter on June 13 and used the money to buy a sofa set and a mattress.
While police note that the family lives in poverty, they say the decision to give up a child for adoption in exchange for money is illegal. The minor and her siblings are enlisted in a local feeding programme. The police tracked down and rescued the child in a household in Matanya, near Nanyuki, leading to the arrest of two other women, identified as Jane Wanjiiru and Jane Watare.
The trio, however, denied the charges before Principal Magistrate Njeri Thuku. The charges read that Ms. Ekale, on June 13, 2020, at 2 pm in Naromoru township, Kieni East sub-county, unlawfully placed the child in the care of Ms. Watare. The suspects will be detained at the Naromoru Police Station until July 8, when the case will be mentioned.
