Friday September 13, 2019
Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta speaks at the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit during the 73rd United Nations General Assembly in New York, U.S., September 24, 2018. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya has banned foreigners from adopting local children and will work toward a new policy governing the process, the presidency said on Thursday.
The move follows that of neighboring Ethiopia, which also stopped adoption of children by foreigners in 2018, in an effort to curb trafficking.
The government also asked the ministry of labor and social protection to draw up a new policy on foreign adoptions, President Uhuru Kenyatta’s office said in a statement that came after a cabinet meeting.
The ban was motivated by “the need to safeguard and protect children,” presidential spokeswoman Kanze Dena told Reuters without giving any more details.
Government agency the Child Welfare Society of Kenya declined to comment when Reuters sought more information on the ban.
Reporting by Omar Mohammed; Editing by Duncan Miriri and Lisa Shumaker