This archive report was first published on 13 September 2019.
On Thursday, the Kenyan Cabinet took a decisive step to protect the country's children by banning the adoption of Kenyan children by foreign nationals with immediate effect.
The move, aimed at taming rogue adopters, was announced by State House Spokesperson Kanze Dena in a statement following a special Cabinet meeting at State House.
The Cabinet also directed the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection to formulate a new policy document to regulate the adoption of children by foreign nationals in Kenya.
The decision comes on the heels of a series of court battles over the adoption of Kenyan children by foreigners, with some cases involving American and Swedish couples.
One such case involved an American couple, Daisy and Matt, who were granted legal guardianship of a Kenyan baby by Nairobi's Children Court in April 2017. However, the couple's adoption was later marred by controversy after detectives stormed their residence and took the baby away.
Another case involved two Swedish couples and a Danish couple who were stopped from taking three Kenyan children out of the country in August 2015 after it was discovered that the minors were not abandoned orphans but had families.
The government's move to ban child adoption by foreign nationals is a response to concerns over loopholes in adoption laws and the commercialization of adoptions. In 2014, the government placed an adoption moratorium on foreigners following a review of the adoption process by the Technical Assessment of the Legal Provisions and Practices of Guardianship, Foster Care and Adoption of children by the Government of Kenya and UN children agency Unicef.
The review showed weaknesses in the legal process, which was subject to manipulation leading to commercialisation of adoptions. The government also revoked the licenses of adoption agencies and appointed an expert committee to implement the objectives of the moratorium.
