Written by Frankline Bwire 2012-07-05 16:30:00 Read 596 Times

A middle aged woman has been sentenced to two years imprisonment by a Busia law court for abandoning her children contrary to section 127(1)a-b(2) of the children act of 2001 law of Kenya.

The accused Phostine Taaka a resident of Bukhulungu village, Samia district in Busia County, is said to have committed the offence on the 22^nd March 2011, where she unlawfully abandoned her four children subjecting them to unnecessary suffering.

The prosecution case as put by one Patrick Mabira the father of the children namely Metrine Nafula 8 years, Martha Nabwire 6, Wycliffe Odongo 2, and George Opiyo 2 years respectively, said that the accused who was his wife had a habit of abandoning the children for days without any reason.

He further informed the court that on one occasion the accused had been found in a bar drinking alcohol while the children were left at home alone.

A report by the Samia district children officer Dishon Otuko informed the court that the children were under the care of their father and assisted by their paternal grandmother.

However the accused person in her defense did not dispute her behavior of abandoning the children but also informed the court that the children’s father had threatened her life.

Delivering the judgment the senior resident magistrate Mildred Munyekenye said she had considered the evidence produced in court by both sides.

“I have considered the report by the children officer on the welfare of the children and find that from the evidence produced, the accused had willfully abandoned her children making them in need of care and protection,” said the magistrate.

She added that: “Through the report of the probation office, the court has sentenced her to two years imprisonment.”

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