On Wednesday, October 4, 2023, a Nairobi court gave a clear message to social workers in baby-selling syndicates at health facilities that things will not continue as usual.

This comes after Fred Leopara Makalla, a former social worker at Mama Lucy Hospital in Nairobi, was sentenced to 35 years in prison for conceiving a scheme to sell three newborns left at the facility three years prior.

The three infants ranged in age from eight days, two weeks, and two months respectively.

Celina Awuor Adundo, another social worker who was Leopara’s co-accused, was only found guilty of the offense of child neglect and received a two-year sentence with an alternative of KSh300,000 fine.

Social Worker On The Spot

The two social workers were given separate sentences when Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Esther Kimilu stated they lacked compassion for the kids in their care.

She did, however, decide that the goal of the punishment was to hold the pair accountable for their errors and to dissuade anyone else who might be tempted to commit similar offenses in the future.

“Leparan is a person who had worked for long in community service and ought to have protected the children under his care.

“I therefore sentence him as follows, 3 years in count of conspiracy to traffic children, counts 2,3, and 4 to 30 years for trafficking three children, and count 6 and 7 to two years for child negligence,” Senior Magistrate Kimilu ruled.

Baby-Selling Scheme Exposed

The three infants were left at the hospital by their mothers, who later took them for care and treatment, according to Peter Murimi Magaka, a BBC reporter who served as the main witness for the prosecution at the hearing.

He described in his testimony how Makallah, a social worker at the hospital, asked for KSh300,000 from the journalist who posed as a buyer.

Makallah is said to have accepted the money in three installments, as he intended to sell the three newborns at KSh100,000 each.