A Child-trafficking syndicate has hit the Country with daughter to a powerful former politician mentioned as the key mastermined alongside her husband.
The syndicate also involves members of the Judiciary in form of Magistrates, a Lawyer, the police and some immigration officers.
The two magistrates and lawyer are apparently paid to speed up the adoption process of children while the immigration officials are paid to help promote the illegal trade.
According to a police source, the woman and her husband, a foreigner, abduct children from poor families and take them to the children’s homes and thereafter they are shipped to court where the magistrate expedite “adoption” cases.
And once the court process is complete, the Immigration official takes over and provides the necessary travel documents to enable the cartels to fly the children out of the country.
“The magistrate, lawyer and some officials from the children’s office are working in cahoots to ensure that children are taken through the adoption process in record time so that they can be taken to foreign countries,” said the source.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations boss George Kinoti, the police probe is almost complete and they will soon bring the culprits to book.
“Yes, it is true we have unearthed the syndicate and we are moving fast to eradicate it. Kenya has already put in place a moratorium to stop the adoption of children by foreigners and this is one of the ways we hope to get rid of this illegal trade,” he said.
The non-governmental organisations involved in the fight against human trafficking say the most prominent manifestation of the vice is sexual exploitation because the victims come out seeking for assistance.
They say one of the challenges in fighting the illegal organ trade and prosecuting those behind it is its secretive nature, adding that it is often treated as a “rumour” because many of the victims do not live to tell their ordeal.
Paul Adhoch from Trace Kenya, a Mombasa-based organisation, says he has been helping rehabilitate victims of child trafficking, shipped out of the country and is, therefore, difficult to verify claims because many disappear without a trace.
Mutuku Nguli, from Counter Human Trafficking Trust- East Africa, says some of the key suspects of trafficking are police officers who work with organised criminal cartels to sell children.
“The government should step in and investigate the activities of children’s homes in the country,” he says.