Woman yet to inter son after controversial burial by American paedophile

With a desolate look on her face, Ms Daisy Chelang’at, a mother of four, stands on the doorway of her mud-walled, iron-roofed house.

Her hands are literally full as she holds her young twin daughters on each arm. She wears a distant look, gazing into the blue skies.

Ms Chelang’at who has two sets of twins – two boys and two girls - does manual jobs for an income, which she uses to feed her children.

The children stay with their grandmother and her son whenever she has to go out to fend for them in the neighbourhood since she cannot afford a house help.

In some instances, she carries them to the farm and places them under a shed as she performs her chores. Other times, she requests her relatives to watch the twins.

Ms Chelang’at, a third born in a family of four, stays with her mother Ms Lucio Lang’at and siblings at the family’s three points of an acre land at Kapletundo Ward in Sotik Constituency, Bomet County. Their father Mr Kipng’eno Lang’at died in 2005.

Whenever her children fall ill, she has to rely on relatives as she does not have any medical insurance, not even National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF).

On the appointed day of her interview with the Nation, she had just arrived from plucking tea at a neighbour’s farm where she earns an average of Sh120 a day.

Unclear circumstances

Ms Chelang’at is pre-occupied with tribulations she has undergone for the last eight years having lost her son in unclear circumstances and the body buried at Dow's Children's Home in Boito, Konoin Constituency in Bomet County.

The home was operated by disgraced American national Mr Gregory Dow, who on June 16, 2020, confessed before a court in the US of sexually molesting four girls at the orphanage he ran with his wife – Ms Mary Hayes Rose.

Remains of the child were exhumed on May 30, 2019 and taken to Longisa County Referral Hospital mortuary, following investigations by officers from Kenya's Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and America's Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).

Baby James Kipkirui, who was about one and a half years old in 2012, allegedly died after choking on food, but was not taken to hospital for treatment.

He was buried a few hours later, three metres from an office at the children's home, without the police being informed or a burial certificate secured as is required by law.

Pleas by the family to bury the child at the grandparents’ home were allegedly rejected by the American couple.

Sex scandal

Kipkirui and his twin brother – Jessie - had been taken to the home after the mother gave birth to them at a tender age of 17 years, when she could hardly fend for herself due to poverty.

Jessie has since reunited with the family after the children's home was closed in 2017, when the sex scandal involving Mr Dow and nine girls at the facility broke out, leading to the American fleeing Kenya.

The shy young boy kept darting in and out of the area we were conducting the interview in the compound, as if to protect his mother from any harm we posed.

We have since established that nine-year-old Jessie, who is a Class Three pupil, was recently re-admitted at Kenduiywo Children’s Home in Bomet Central Constituency as the parent cannot adequately provide for him.  This happened after the interview for this article was conducted.

Exhumed last year

"Since the body of my son (James) was exhumed last year, I have not been contacted by government officers who had promised to provide us with results of DNA samples taken," says Ms Chelang’at.

"I am looking forward to the day I will accord my son a decent burial. That will settle my heart.

“Even though this is my mother’s land, as I do not have my own, I will have no option but to bury the remains of my child here,” she says after minutes of silence.

She says the events have traumatised her as it is a taboo in the Kalenjin community to disturb the dead in their graves where they ideally are supposed to rest in peace forever.

"When I surrendered my children to the Dows because of the myriad of problems I faced, I did not know the American running it had a criminal record back in the US" says Ms Chelang’at.

She adds: "I have just learnt that he has pleaded guilty to charges of molesting girls at the orphanage and I hope he will be made to pay for his sins, including failing to care for my son and forcing us to have him buried at the home."

American couple

The deceased, like other children at the home, had not been given up for adoption by the parent, but only placed under the care of the American couple until they attain the age of 18 when they would be released to join their families, or get sponsorship to pursue further education.

Mr Davis Bett, a former administrator at the home, says when the boy died, the American couple was informed but they insisted it be kept at one of the halls overnight.

“When they arrived in the morning, they directed that the parents be summoned to the home. When they arrived, the family members were told the body would be buried at the children’s home. A shallow grave was dug and the ceremony was over in less than 30 minutes with a short prayer,” says Mr Bett.

Mr Geoffrey Ngetich, the owner of the land registration number Kericho/Boito/1022, where the children’s home was based at Kapsiratet village, Konoin Sub-county was present when baby James’ body was exhumed.

“I leased the land to the American couple where they set up the children’s home. It later emerged that a child who died at the home, was buried on the land. We are relieved the exhumation has been conducted. The lease has since expired,” says Mr Ngetich.

The police executed the exhumation of the boy's body on May 30, 2019, following orders by former Bomet High Court Judge Mr Martin Muya issued on March 25, 2018 after an application by Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP).

Mr Derrick Wawire, a prosecuting counsel at the DPP's office made the application for exhumation on October 11, 2018, accusing the American couple of "secretly burying the kid's body without informing the police, securing a burial permit and a death certificate from registrar of births and deaths".

“The deceased’s mother and grandmother came from a very poor background and had committed the deceased to a children’s home run by an American citizen. When the child died, they requested to be given the body for burial, but the American refused and turned them away,” says Mr Wawire.

Justice Muya had directed that the body be kept in custody of the State pending report of death to the registrar of deaths and a burial permit granted to the family, to perform the rites.

Dr Johansen Oduor, the chief government pathologist, conducted the autopsy on the remains at the children's home shortly after exhumation before handing over the body to the police.

"We have extracted samples from the body, which will be subjected to analysis to facilitate the compiling of a report," said Dr Oduor at the time, as the body was placed in a white body bag and loaded into a police Landover, which took it to Longisa Hospital mortuary for preservation.

Dr Oduor said in a recent statement that he is yet to receive the lab results for the samples taken from the parent and the exhumed body parts.

“I am yet to receive the results from the specimen sent to the laboratory (for tests),” stated Dr Oduor in a message following a series of inquiries from the Nation.

Unclaimed bodies

The Nation has confirmed that the body is still at the mortuary as there has not been any communication from the police to the facility’s administration on how or when to dispose of the remains.

It is the only case of remains being preserved for a long period at the mortuary, which accommodates 30 bodies, according to employees at the facility.

The county government refurbished the morgue in 2014 and installed new equipment after years of neglect.

“Since the remains are being preserved in compliance with a High Court order, it will be kept at the facility until we are given directives by the court and the police on who to release it to or how to dispose of it,” says Dr Isaac Birech, the medical superintendent at the hospital.

He clarified that the body is safe and can be preserved for years as they have functioning refrigeration facilities at the mortuary.

It is a standard practice and position of the law that unclaimed bodies are disposed of by the government in public cemeteries after three months. But before the disposal is done, such orders must be secured from the Judiciary.

“The family should follow up the matter with the CID, which was in charge of the case following application by the directorate of public prosecution,” says Mr Alex Shikanda, the Konoin Sub-county police commander.

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