It has been a harrowing seven months for a family in Hilton, Nakuru Town West constituency, after their nine-month-old baby went missing from a daycare centre.
The child’s mother, Martha Wambui, says that her son disappeared on April 15 and was only found on Thursday last week in Homa Bay County.
Officers rescued the child, Brivin Mgendi, as he was allegedly being trafficked.
The child was sold for Sh80,000 in Keroka, Nyamira County, before he was driven to Nyaburi village in Karachuonyo location, Homa Bay, said a police report filed at the Kendu Bay police station on Thursday evening last week.
Officers on patrol received information that a motor vehicle with registration number KCW 901Y was transporting a kidnapped child on the Oyugis-Kendu Bay route.
The officers laid an ambush, intercepted the vehicle and arrested the driver, George Ochieng, 47.
The driver led the officers to the house of Ruth Aoko, 62. She and her two accomplices – Winny Ginjo and Molly Akinyi – were arrested and the boy was rescued.
The three were charged with trafficking in persons, contrary to section 3(a) as read with section 4(3) of the Counter Trafficking in Persons Act.
Ms Wambui said a friend had told her on Sunday evening that the photo of a kidnapped child was circulating on social media and that she should check whether it was Brivin’s.
She and her a neighbour with a smartphone perused the websites.
“After seeing the photo, I positively identified him, even though he seems more grown. I called my mother and informed her of the good news,” she said.
“On Monday morning, we set off to Homa Bay. I was happy when I set my eyes on my son after seven months of being apart.
“He is being held at a children’s home in Homa Bay as we wait for a DNA test.
“We were escorted to Kisumu on Tuesday for the tests as required by the authority to confirm if indeed he is my son before he is handed to us officially. The results will be out on Thursday.”
An album picture of baby Brivin Mgendi
Ms Wambui, 22, recalled the events that led to the disappearance of the child, saying she had been at work in Nakuru.
A woman who operates a clinic in Kaptembwa, Nakuru West constituency, had helped her find a babysitter, whom she paid Sh100 a day.
The woman, identified as Mama Ndirangu, had told her that she also operated a daycare centre in the same premises. She agreed to take care of the child, saying that she had hired someone else to do that work.
Ms Wambui said she left baby Brivin under the care of the woman and headed to work.
When she went to pick up the baby after work, Mama Ndirangu told her the other woman had left with him.
She said they waited for more than four hours for the woman to return and she never picked up their phone calls. She later switched off her phone, prompting Ms Wambui to leave, hoping that the baby would be returned the next day, but he was not.
“That was the beginning of my tribulations. I reported the matter to the Kaptembwa police station. Mama Ndirangu and the woman were arrested and later released without being taken to court,” said the mother of three.
She said the police later accused her of selling the child willingly. She was arrested and detained for four days without being charged. BY DAILY NATION