Nairobi woman in court for trying to sell grandson for Sh400,000

A 39-year-old woman, who allegedly tried to sell her five-day-old grandson for Sh400,000, has been charged with trafficking in persons contrary to Section 3 (1) (d) of the Counter Trafficking in Persons Act, 2010.

CNM is accused of conspiring with unknown persons to sell the newborn before she was apprehended by police officers posing as potential buyers of the child on April 9.

The accused travelled to her rural home in Kakamega County on April 7 -four days after her 16-year-old daughter gave birth- and returned to Nairobi the next day with the child, promising to take care of him.

She told her daughter (the child's mother) that she would visit the child after school.

However, she allegedly initiated a plan to sell the baby and the plan was reported to the police by a Good Samaritan.

Police officers based at Kasarani Police Station in Nairobi posed as potential buyers and began negotiations for the baby, offering Sh300,000 while CNN demanded Sh400,000.

Children's home

They arranged a meeting at a restaurant in the city and eventually arrested them, rescued the baby and took it to a children's home.

The defendant's daughter was arrested on April 9, hours after the arrest of the suspect.

She was later taken to Kasarani Police Station where she gave a statement to police during the investigation.

The 16-year-old is listed as a witness in the case against her mother and has been placed under witness protection.

The suspect has been in custody since her arrest after Kasarani police officer Jackson Mwachala, who is investigating the case, obtained a 14-day remand order from the Makadara Magistrate's Court to complete investigations.

CNM denied the charges before Principal Magistrate Lewis Gatheru of the Makadara Law Courts.

She was released on Sh200,000 bail. The case will be heard on May 9.