A Mombasa peasant family is fighting to have a child they gave to a Polish couple in exchange for a mobile phone and Sh4,000 returned to them.
Mr Joseph Rioba, 69, and his wife Elizabeth, 45, gave out Abednego Marengo, 6, one of their nine children two years ago.
Mr Derick Wojciech Michal and Mrs Derecka Gabriela Krystyna of Katowice, Poland, then flew out with the boy, then aged four - and who now speaks Polish - and renamed him Mikolaj.
"I handed over my child not knowing that I had surrendered all my parental rights," said Mr Rioba, a water vendor in Majaoni.
Young Marengo was handed over to the Polish couple following a successful application for adoption before High Court judge Lawrence Ouna on April 17, 2003. The judge ruled that the biological parents had both given their consent for the child's adoption by the Polish couple.
"The court has noted with satisfaction that the applicants are persons of moral uprightness and are financially capable of providing the child with the necessities of life. It will be in the child's interest and benefit if the orders sought are granted," he ruled on May 23, 2003.
He also gave them authority to remove the child to Katowice and a certificate to transfer the child was issued by the Registrar of the High Court in Mombasa.
Now the boy's parents are making frantic efforts to have their child back despite the legal process for his adoption having been followed. The Riobas first met the couple in Mombasa, where they were on holiday in 2002.Their son Fred Mwita had taken the visitors on a game drive at Amboseli National Park, when he learnt that they were interested in adopting a Kenyan child.
"Having had a conversation with the couple, I took them to see my poor parents and I do not know what happened thereafter.
Mr Rioba said they held several meetings in March 2003 on how the Polish couple were going to help them educate their child.According to him, they handed over their son only informally.
Said Mrs Rioba: "Before we handed over the boy, we agreed with the couple that they would take him to Poland to educate him," Mrs Rioba said.
She added that it was after these meetings that the couple gave him a mobile phone and Sh4,000.
"These were the only things I got from the couple before I handed over my son," he said.
He explained that the phone was to enable them talk regularly, while the money was to pay for the boy's medical check-up, which included an Aid's test.
Mr Rioba's wife said both parties had agreed that when schools in Poland were closed, the child would come to Kenya to stay with his parents for at least two weeks.
In April 2003, the Polish couple sought the help of the Polish Honorary Consular Reshadi Noor to adopt the boy.
"The Polish Consulate is aware of the matter as the couple sought the assistance of my office.
"I recall I referred them to a lawyer who made a formal application for adoption in the High Court, said Mr Noor.
Mr Justice Ouna ruled on the matter after interviewing both parties.
Mr Rioba now says most of the issues related to adoption of children were not explained to his family before they gave their consent.
"It was our understanding that our child would come back to us during holidays once schools are closed, he said.
But Mr Noor dismissed Mr Rioba's claims. "All issues relating to adoption were explained to them and I have documents to show that they voluntarily gave their child away," he said and explained that the couple spent more than Sh300,000 on legal fees, medical and airfare.
According to Mr Noor, the Riobas' desperation for the boy's return could ruin his future.
"It is unfortunate that a boy's future is going to be ruined by parents who are more interested in getting help," he said.
Kenyan authorities and non-governmental organisations have unsuccessfully tried to have the boy returned to his biological parents.
Tourism minister Karisa Maitha had intervened in the adoption saga but died before he had made contact with the Polish embassy in Kenya.The Federation of Women Lawyers Kenya (Fida-K) had also been involved in the saga.However, Fida-K later pulled out, terming the case "too complicated".
Mr Noor said he saw Mikolaj a year ago and that he had adapted well to life in Poland.
"He speaks fluent Polish and is unwilling to come back to Kenya, he said.
The last time the Rioba's had contact with the Polish couple was October 2003.
An official from the Children's Department said cases of parents at the Coast giving out their children to foreigners for adoption were on the increase and blamed poverty for it.
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