The world is an awfully evil place! Otherwise, how would you explain the rampant abuse of children by adults, who are supposed to love, care and protect them by all means necessary?

Cases of grisly murders, trafficking, child labour and rape of children have become rampant, and one would be excused for thinking there is a cultic practice of offering child sacrifices in Kenya.

Amid the violence meted out on children, a child trafficking cartel has been on the loose, in the guise of child adoption.

For over a decade, Kenya has been cited by the UN as a hub for child trafficking in the region.

According to child rights experts and activists, the trafficking takes advantage of the loopholes in the law.

Indeed, cases of foreigners literally buying children disguised as adoption have been on the rise, as traffickers exploit these legal lacunas to take children out of the country.

The Child Welfare Society of Kenya (CWSK) has admitted that sections of the Children’s Act 2001 that deal with international adoption are open to abuse.

This diabolical practice is abetted by money-hungry parents, guardians or relatives of the victims.

In addition, no one ever follows up to find out the welfare of the adopted children. Some of them could be dead from ill treatment, or already sold for body parts. God forbid! 

The recent banning of adoption of Kenyan children by foreigners is welcome, though it should have come earlier.

It is not all about whether someone has the money to pay for adoption, and raise an unfortunate child.

Also, it is not about poverty, because there are millions of children living in extreme poverty.

Taking a handful of children out of the equation just gives a false sense of security.

Adoption in the sense of paying to get someone else’s child was not practiced in the traditional African society.

Children whose parents passed on were automatically taken over and raised by the extended family.

However, the rise of modernism and individualism has led to the breakdown of these crucial social safeguards.

Consequently, fewer families are ready to take over orphans due to the extra social and financial burden involved. 

The government should never renege on this total ban. Children cannot be fun things to be toyed with.

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Our wickedness as a society has reached bloodcurdling proportions, if what is happening to children is something to go by.

It is not the first time that we have endangered their innocent lives, through utter greed and foolishness.

The folly of the fatal incident at Precious Talent School along Ngong Road does not need belabouring. To start with, are the owners of that school parents?

If their own children were schooling in such decrepit classes, would they have neglected doing the right thing to secure their lives? Silly excuses aside, they cannot claim they never saw the tragedy coming.

But this is truly Kenya! Trust me, the school proprietors may finally walk scot free, with their noses in the air, as if nothing happened.

After all, it was someone else’s fault. Scarred for life, parents of the deceased children will never be compensated. It will be business as usual. – The writer is a communications expert, and public policy analyst—ndegwasm@gmail.com