A middle-aged woman, who allegedly tried to sell her one-month-old son for Ksh20,000 was on Thursday charged with promoting child trafficking contrary to Section 4 (2)(3) of the Counter-trafficking in Persons Act 2010.
Phibi Machesa Barasa, who appeared before Thika Law Courts Senior Resident Magistrate Oscar Wanyaga, is accused of initiating adoption proceedings of Prince Saviour Mohamed, the son, for the purpose of trafficking him.
Machesa, alongside her co-accused persons Francis Burimo Osiolo and Catherine Akinyi Okullo who also appeared in court were arrested yesterday, August 2, 2023, near Olsops area of Nairobi County where the deal was to be sealed.
While Burimo and Akinyi (reportedly the buyers) pleaded not guilty to the charges, Machesa told the court that she only intended to give the baby to Burimo after she suffered financial constraints.
“I suffered a lot during the pregnancy period. After delivery, I decided to give the baby to someone with the capacity to parent him instead of killing him. I gave the baby to Francis for parenting purposes,” Machesa, who claimed to have no relationship with Burimo, told the court.
Contrary to her court narrations, her husband Sadick Wasike, 37, told journalists that the Machesa intended to sell the baby to the other accused persons at Sh 20,000.
Wasike revealed that Machesa had already received Ksh9,000 as a downpayment and was scheduled to receive the remaining amount in due course.
Trouble started on Thursday last week when Machesa reportedly refused to breastfeed the baby only to mysteriously disappear the same day.
She would later call Wasike claiming that the baby had been admitted at Thika Level Five Hospital and that he should take care of their other small child.
“I left for work on Thursday last week but on return, my wife was not around. At that time, she called me claiming that the baby had been admitted to the hospital and that I should take care of our other small baby. On Friday, she told me that the baby had died while at Thika Level Five Hospital. I rushed to the hospital on Saturday but medics there told me that they had not admitted such a person. A guard however told me that my wife was lying and that she had approached him to lie. He told me that the baby was alive but it was not clear where he was,” narrated Wasike.
After a lengthy interrogation by Wasike and friends, Machesa disclosed that she had taken the baby to Pumwani Hospital where they cruised only to find out that the child was neither present nor had been admitted.
“I decided to report the matter to police who organized for the arrest of both my wife and the buyers who had brought her Ksh9,000 out of the Ksh20,000 she wanted to sell the baby,” Wasike added.
In his directions, Wanyaga ordered for interrogation of the three by the probation officer upon which a report should be made and presented before the court on August 17, 2023, a mentioned date that the court will use to issue bond terms.
Wanyaga set October 17, 2023, as the hearing date of the matter.
“Your case will be heard on October 17, 2023, but will be mentioned on August 17. You will be interrogated by probation officers who will write a report which the court will use to issue bond terms,” said Wanyaga.
Under the current law, a person who commits an offence under Section 4 (2)(3) of the counter-trafficking in Persons Act of 2010 is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than thirty years or to a fine of not less than Ksh20 million shillings or to both upon a subsequent conviction. BY K24 NEWS