Rachel Kenzo in the dock at the Makadara Law Courts
By Gabriel Somba
A Ugandan woman has been charged at the Makadara Law Courts with the theft of a 10-year-old girl from Kiambiu slums in Kamukunji, Nairobi, and allegedly demanding “upkeep” money from the child’s family.
Rachel Kenzo denied the charges of child theft contrary to Section 174 (1)(b) of the Penal Code when she appeared before Senior Resident Magistrate Wandia Nyamu. She was released on a bond of Sh50,000.
Prosecutors told the court that on August 4, Kenzo took the minor, identified in court documents as HW, and later relocated with her to Tala in Machakos County. The girl was eventually rescued by police officers after they traced the suspect.
Court papers indicate that HW had run away from a woman who threatened her following a disagreement with her playmate. Kenzo allegedly found the child stranded, invited her into her home, and later moved her to a lodging in Tala.
The prosecution said the minor managed to call her father using Kenzo’s phone. When the father contacted the suspect, she allegedly demanded money for feeding the child, claiming she had met her in Tala.
The child’s father later outsmarted Kenzo by pretending to have paid for food at a restaurant and asking her to send the minor to collect it. This allowed him to reunite with his daughter, after which relatives arrested Kenzo and handed her over to police.
The case will be mentioned on October 13 for a pretrial hearing.
