but others praised our journalism. and i thank the media for exposing this and for bringing it out. thank you very much. and officials made public promises of firm government action. no effort will be spared - in ensuring that we protect our children. some of the perpetrators were arrested. but how much impact did the film have in the fight against child trafficking in kenya — and how much have things really changed since? back in 2020, bbc africa eye uncovered an underground trade in children stolen from the streets and even hospitals back in 2020, bbc africa eye uncovered an underground trade in children stolen from the streets and even hospitals of nairobi and then sold on the black market to the highest bidder. the investigation sent shock waves through kenya. every home, every matatu, everyone was talking about it. our undercover investigators managed to infiltrate trafficking rings selling stolen children for as little as m00. we believe kenya is very secure. and if somebody can do this kind of a crime, i was like, "what? no, this is not happening in kenya." the story reached a huge global audience — 2.5 million people watched it on youtube alone — and many were outraged. "this is just heartbreaking. "i feel so upset andl angry watching this. "what is the kenyan justice doing?" - but many demanded that the police step up and arrest the perpetrators. "i'm so disappointed that - no—one was held accountable... "has there been any arrest after this documentary? i "bbc, yourjob is not done." after reading all these comments, i want to go out and find out what happened. has anything changed ? has justice been served? i start myjourney in kayole, home to thousands of nairobi's poorest residents. it is here that we discovered an underground clinic run by mary auma, a former nurse. mary auma's story is quite unfortunate, because it tells of a situation of poverty. mary auma helped impoverished mothers from nearby slums to deliver their babies. then she sold them to the highest bidder. she's a cartel. she's in this business to make money. she doesn't care about any woman who's giving birth in her clinic. that's very low price to buy even a baby. there should never be a value on human life. sometimes it was more expensive to buy a cow than a trafficked child. but after the broadcast of the film, mary auma disappeared into the shadows. no—one has seen her since. we hear rumours she could be in this village, she could be in that village. and you go. she's gone. she's not there. today the clinic she operated from is long gone. but the problem of child theft is not. as i discovered, children are still being targeted by traffickers in this area. while we were filming, i was approached by a woman called rosemary, who told me one of her granddaughters, five—year—old chelsea, was snatched while playing outside her home. chelsea akinye. it is shocking to think that a young child has gone missing, right here on the doorstep of the very clinic we exposed. the night chelsea was taken, rosemary reported her as missing to the police station, but has had no news on her whereabouts. rosemary searches every day for any information on the whereabouts of chelsea, even if it may not be news she wants to hear. and rosemary is not the only one. between july 2022 and may 2023, almost 7,000 children were reported missing in kenya. only one in six of them have been reunited with their parents. during the original investigation, we discovered that homeless mothers are often the main target of child traffickers. it was only then that i realised the true scale of the problem. we just sat and talked to them and immediately we asked, "who here has lost a child?" five hands went up. this is amongst 20 homeless mothers. and their stories were heart—wrenching. these women, homeless and with little protection from the state, were easy prey for the traffickers. but who was stealing their children and why? when i first heard about anita, she was a woman in the streets who was involved in child trafficking. anita, a heavy drug—user with a history of violence, stole multiple children from homeless families and sold them to barren women — or, she claimed, for human—sacrifice rituals. during our research, our undercover investigator arranged a meeting with anita. to her surprise, she brought a five—month—old baby with her that she had just stolen. in an attempt to rescue the child, we told her that we knew a woman who wanted to buy a baby. she was keen to sell the child to us. we decided to alert the police, who set up a sting operation to arrest anita and free the child. and then that's the cue for the arrest to be made. i posed as a childless mother who wanted to buy the child anita had stolen. police were on standby. the trap was set. anita arrived, but without the baby. a deal was cut. anita agreed to bring the child, but she didn't return. despite an extensive search, the police neverfound her and the baby disappeared — perhaps forever. i always see the face of that baby. she was quite chubby. she was right there. she was right there, and then she wasn't. i was angry at myself. i replayed... i replayed the scenario. "what did we do wrong?" i always tell people who ask me about it, i always tell them "we did our best." a child who would never, ever be reunited with her mother. and not by choice but by force. two years on, i want to find out what happened to anita. so i went to the very same street families that she used to prey on, and whose identities we're protecting. according to the women here, anita wasn't working alone. you think you can trust everybody around you, that you're in the same boat. but maybe not. but the release of our investigation put a stop to anita preying on homeless women. according to the women she preyed upon, anita met the fate that she deserved. with anita long gone, the women say that the number of abductions has dropped dramatically, but the threat from baby stealers is far from over. but women here are still reluctant to report missing children to the police. it is not a single challenge. it's not the only thing that they struggle with. they were willing to speak and say what is happening. and their relationship with government, where do they report? how do they report? will they get help? and women forced to live on the streets can never fully lower their guard. there are no reliable statistics on child trafficking in kenya, but the police receive reports of missing children every week. there are no reliable statistics on child trafficking in kenya, but the police receive reports of missing children every week. we usually get, like, an average of around five in a week. we get varied reports. we get from high social class, middle, to the lowest. but most of the people, in fact, majority of the cases are from the low income or the low classes. a day after our investigation was broadcast, simon chelugui, the labour and social protection minister at the time, promised that no efforts would be spared in the fight against child trafficking. all the government agencies involved in children's protection have been mobilised and they'll get to the bottom of this issue. and no effort will be spared in ensuring that we protect our children and assure all our children and mothers their safety. but two years on, there is no sign of the special task force mr chelugui promised, and the police still struggle with limited resources. the police are struggling on many fronts, not just trafficking. like, its under—resourced, undertrained. but there are signs that things are changing. in 2022, a new children's act took effect that strengthened kenya's child protection laws. but according to detective chief inspector mueni mutisya, more needs to be done to prevent child abuse and potential abductions. let us have a common goal of protecting children. if we can have our law give us obligations. you find a child that you suspect that they are missing or a child that you suspect that they are being abused, you are obligated to report and safeguard. so i think we need that strongly in our legal framework. so this is our office. for over five years, missing child kenya has been the first point of contact for many parents of missing children. mariana munyendo, who leads this nonprofit charity, helped us with our investigation in 2020. her work has been a vital support to parents of missing children ever since. in 2021 alone, mariana received a staggering 406 reports of missing children. the pain of not knowing where your loved one is cannot be explained. yeah, so... missing child kenya's toll—free number has been busier than ever since our investigation was broadcast. within nairobi, we still get a lot of cases from the slum areas. we normally receive about three cases in a day. 0ur expose brought a fresh wave of calls from desperate mothers reporting missing children from as much as ten years ago. we got an increase in calls to us because people now knew about us and now they are calling to even talk about cold cases that were previously unreported. would you say parents have become more vigilant since? yes, parents have become more vigilant. and for me, it's a positive thing. our investigation also led us to a child trafficking ring operating within one of kenya's best—known public hospitals. fred leparan, a social worker from mama lucy kibaki hospital in nairobi, sold our undercover reporter an abandoned newborn baby straight out of the maternity unit for $3,000. immediately after the film was aired, the police launched an investigation into the theft of children at mama lucy and arrested a number of hospital staff. newsreader: three medical officers at a public hospital. in nairobi have been arrested in relation to a suspected child trafficking syndicate. the prosecution called dozens of witnesses to testify. the africa eye investigation was used in court as a key part of the prosecution's case. as the case dragged on, i went to meet a mama lucy employee who agreed to speak, providing we protect his identity. i want to find out how fred managed to traffic children from the hospital so openly, and was he acting alone? according to him, the problem was far bigger than we ever realised. but how has this network been allowed to thrive for so long? after two years, the judge found that fred leparan and selina awuor had a case to answer — a decision that could have huge consequences if they were ultimately found guilty. if you are facing three counts, that's 90 years in jail. conspiracy to commit a felony attracts seven years. the other one, child neglect, it attracts five years. times three, that's 15 years. so these accused persons are facing over 100 years injail. despite employing one of the best legal teams in kenya... the form was signed before you included these details. ..fred's defence was inconsistent and evasive. and then in september this year, almost three years since the trial began, thejudge finally issued a verdict. i am in nairobi at the law courts, and we've been waiting for a very long time for thejudgment and it's finally come. we hope thatjustice is going to be served today. in conclusion, ifind that the prosecution has established a case beyond reasonable doubt against the first accused, and he is hereby convicted of conspiracy to commit a felony, namely trafficking in person, trafficking in person of three subjects, and child neglect of three persons, of three children. adoption has a process for a reason. it's for the safety of the child. and fred sold a child to us without even knowing who the potential buyer is. he is supposed to be the safety net. but actually he was the complete opposite. fred's conviction made headlines. but for the parents of missing children, the verdict brought little comfort. their endless and sometimes hopeless search for answers continues. every morning, rosemary leaves her house to put up posters of her missing granddaughter chelsea in the hope that it will bring fresh news of her whereabouts. the pain that rosemary feels is shared by parents of stolen children all over the world. i'm a bit sad that the wheels are moving so slow, because even though the arrests were made, somebody like mary auma is still on the loose. the women on the streets, they're still not able to report if they have a missing case. over time, things move on. criminals go back to their old behaviours. the problems that existed before the film was made, those problems are still there. across kenya, there are still thousands of parents searching for their children. the sad truth is that for many the hopes and dreams that drive them on may never come true. hello. after what has been a very wet week for many, and a very stormy week for some, things do look a little calmer for the weekend. no, it isn't going to be completely dry or completely settled. there'll still be some rain at times, rather windy in the south, but not as windy as it has been. and amidst all of that, some sunshine. 0n the earlier satellite picture, you can see this stripe of cloud pushing in from the southwest, bringing outbreaks of rain in association with this area of low pressure. the centre of the low tracking eastwards, the strongest winds on the southern flank, which means the very windiest weather will be across parts of france, spain and portugal. for us, yes, it will be blustery in the south, but nothing particularly stormy. this band of rain pushing northwards during saturday morning, becoming slow moving in north wales, the north midlands, parts of northern england. to the south of that, sunny spells and heavy thundery showers with some rather blustery winds, particularly around southern coasts. but the far north of england, and certainly northern ireland and scotland, will see lighter winds. spells of sunshine once any early fog has cleared. just the odd shower temperatures of 9—13 degrees. during saturday night, we'll still have this band of cloud and showery rain across central parts of the uk. could see some really heavy showers actually developing across the southeast corner. remember, any rain that we do see could bring the risk of further flooding. if you're off to fireworks events on saturday night, there will be some showers around, perhaps by sunday night, bonfire night itself, there will be fewer showers. they won't be gone completely, but there won't be as many because this area of low pressure during sunday will be pulling away eastwards. we will start sunday morning, though, with some pretty strong winds. in fact, we could see the winds touching gale force across the channel islands for a time. further north for winds that bit lighter. and through sunday, once we've cleared this early cloud and rain away from eastern england, actually, there should be a decent amount of sunshine around. however, further showers will race in from the west. some of these could be on the heavy side. temperatures around 9—13 degrees at best. now, into the start of the new week, we will briefly see this ridge of high pressure toppling through. so things will turn a little drier. but there midweek we will bring this frontal system in from the west. outbreaks of rain with that, and behind it where things could just turn a little bit chillier by the end of the week. so not as stormy or as turbulent as it has been, but still unsettled. live from washington, this is bbc news. israel confirms an airstrike on an ambulance in gaza that it says was being used by hamas fighters. as lebanon's hezbollah leader steps — stops short of committing his fighters to war, the us says a wider regional escalation has been prevented. and the first images from a remote region of nepal, where an earthquake is feared to have killed more than 100 people. hello i'm carl nasman. welcome to the programme. an israeli airstrike outside al—shifa hospital in gaza city on friday has resulted in multiple casualties. footage verified by the bbc shows a damaged ambulance and a number of injured people laying outside the hospital. the israel defense forces confirmed one of its aircraft hit an ambulance that it says was being used by hamas operatives — and that a number of them were killed in the strike. hamas says 13 people were killed in the blast that it says targeted "a convoy of ambulances which was transporting the wounded." un secretary general antonio guterres has shared his reaction on the strike saying — quote — "i am horrified by the reported attack in gaza
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