•In the case, social workers Fred Leparan and Selina Adundo are charged with trafficking three children.
•Beatrice Njoroge the nurse in-charge of the newborn unit told the court that the first child a male was left outside on a bench.
Image: MAUREEN KINYANJUI
A senior nurse at the Mama Lucy Hospital on Tuesday narrated to the court how two infants at the centre of a child trafficking case were abandoned at the facility.
In the case, social workers Fred Leparan and Selina Adundo are charged with trafficking three children.
Beatrice Njoroge the nurse in-charge of the newborn unit told the court that the first child, a male, was left outside on a bench.
According to the nurse, baby JK who weighed 5.2 Kgs was allegedly found outside the outpatient pediatric unit at the waiting bay and was taken to the ward.
He was admitted to the hospital on May 1 and was later released on May 12 to the Imani children's home.
Njoroge further said the second baby was said to have been abandoned at the hospital by her mum who had postpartum.
She told the court that the mother delivered the baby weighing 1800 grams on the way to the hospital.
Njoroge who has been a nurse for 27 years said mother and child were admitted at the facility for about two months as they attended to the child until she was okay to be discharged.
“The mother was so poor that she could not even afford a diaper for her child,” Njoroge told the court.
Due to her predicament, the management decided to waive her and upon the discharge, the mother took the luggage and left the child on the bed.
Njoroge told the court that she was the one who signed the release papers for both children.
The release form allowed the two children to be taken to Imani Children’s home.
In cross-examination by lawyer Danstan Omari, Njoroge said she released the children to Leparan the first accused who was a social worker at the hospital.
She confirmed that in a form brought to court by Imani Children’s home, that one of the minors had been admitted at the facility.
Njoroge also told the court that there was no documentation at their hospital to show that a child had been given to a particular person only a signature on the release form.
A second nurse also testified in the case saying she signed for the release of a third baby to Leparan the accused persons.
Beatrice Chelanga told the court that she was on duty on May 11 a day before the baby was released and she signed the release form.
She told the court that she knew that the baby was being taken to Imani Children’s home.
The case will resume hearing on May 20.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris