Mr Amwayi told the court police investigations revealed that the minor stayed at Ms Ali’s house at Burubru estate in Mandera town until a taxi driver identified as Mr Ahmed Sheikh Hassan picked her up.

"The taxi driver took the young girl to Ms Halima Adan Hassan’s house where she spent a night,” Mr Amwayi said.

It is Ms Hassan who took the girl to the Mandera airstrip on May 29.

At the airport, a police officer noticed anomalies on the child’s birth certificate and that of her purported mother.

After interrogation, the police officer realised the woman was not the child’s biological mother.

While presenting the girl at the airstrip, Ms Hassan also told the police officer that a relative was waiting for the minor at the Wilson Airport in Nairobi.

In mitigation, Ms Hassan Ali told the court that she did not realise that she was committing a crime.

The two have 14 days to appeal the ruling.