In our continuing revelation of the child trafficking world that features some prominent personalities, including politicians and senior officials in government we turn our focus on how the cartels have blocked their prosecution using well-placed individuals at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
We echo calls on Noordin Hajji, the Director of Public Prosecutions, to move with speed and ensure the people whose files are ready for their involvement in child trafficking through falsified adoptions during the period of the moratorium on adoption of Kenyan children by foreigners.
Kurunzi can reveal that at least 80 cases against lawyers, children officers as well as children’s homes administrators and owners had been prepared after investigations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the National Intelligence Service but none of the suspects has been produced in court. The files have been ready since between May and June 2019.
NIS is a critical component of the investigations since child trafficking is a complex, secret affair with international networks.
Out of the 80 files, Kurunzi understands, 17 cases were ready for prosecution but they have been kept away from the attention of Hajji by some of his officers who are on the cartels payroll.
Among the cases are those involving at least five children who were rescued from a plan to give them for adoption to American citizens.
Children protection campaigners are now calling on DPP Hajji to immediately act and charge the 17 culprits and expedite the processing of the remaining cases as a deterrent measure to child exploitation of children and defiance of government policy.
“It is sad that people who are supposed to protect children are taking money from their exploiters to protect them from facing the law,” a source privy to the goings-on at the ODPP told Kurunzi.
“It is only the boss (DPP Hajji) who can intervene and ensure they face justice otherwise the files have been hidden. The only way they (files) will be found is if he came out and demanded for them.”
The children are trafficked in the name of being refugees, abandoned and medical tourism, among other reasons.
The cases involve at least three law firms associated with famous lawyers, who are well known to represent, among others, individuals facing corruption allegations (including governors and Cabinet Secretaries); with a renowned advocate currently appearing for persons facing murder charges.
The delay in charging the suspects in court has left those fighting for children’s rights frustrated as the traffickers seem to be having their way through corrupt means.
Children’s protection campaigners now want the President Uhuru Kenyatta, also the patron of the Children Welfare Society of Kenya – Kenya’s oldest child welfare society, to personally intervene and ensure the child exploitation and trafficking menace is dealt with by bringing the culprits to book.
The children of Kenya are crying and the first steps to showing them that the country really cares about them is to prosecute those already known to be involved in the illegal trafficking trade.
