American couple demand answers after they say Kenyan authorities took 3-year-old in their custody
Kiano, who is Kenyan, was found as a newborn abandoned along with another baby believed to be his twin, according to a police report. The twin later died.
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After receiving medical treatment, Kiano was taken to Mogra Children’s Centre orphanage in Kiambu, Nairobi. Daisy met Kiano when she began volunteering at the orphanage in the summer of 2016, and she soon started helping to pay for his medical bills. As an infant, Kiano suffered from pneumonia and a chest deformity, according to Matt, but in 2018 was diagnosed with atypical febrile seizures, according to medical documents seen by CNN.
Daisy and her husband Matt were named Kiano’s legal guardians by the Children’s Court of Nairobi in April 2017. However, the order specified Kiano would not leave the jurisdiction of the court without the court’s permission.
But they say the plainclothes police that showed up at their home told them the guardianship order was fraudulent.
“I knew they were taking him. I just felt it. But there was nothing we could do. At this point, there were 13 people. And they had made a human wall,” Daisy said.
The group offered no ID, search warrant or court order, according to the couple.
“I just stood up and I started yelling and I said, ‘Is that Kiano?’ I just started screaming, ‘You are kidnapping a child right now, you’re kidnapping our son!’” Matt said.