In our July 2026 podcast, Justice Fiona Atupele Mwale discusses chapter 5, “Trafficking of Children: Inside the Business of Adoption” of Human Trafficking Exposed, a book written by Maxwell Matewere that can be purchased through retailers worldwide, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
The chapter exposes traffickers and orphanages rooted in a mission of compassion, one that appears as permanent and external help as the only viable response that helps children and babies in need of alternative care and support.
The chapter also exposes how orphanages are presented as central protagonists in a story of redemption. How religious language is not used to provoke reflections but confirm virtue. It further explains how orphanages and traffickers establish business associations with authorities and government officials as a strategy to signal influence, recognition and trust that shield them from scrutiny as they engage in the business of recruiting and sales of children and babies.
This podcast discusses how the judiciary handles illegal and unethical adoption practices and the measures in place to protect children from trafficking disguised as adoption.
The host, Vigil Thondoya, engaged the Judge to explain consent verification, judicial oversight, and the safeguards used to ensure that adoption processes are conducted in accordance with the local and international laws.
The podcast is part of ongoing discussions inspired by Matewere’s book, Human Trafficking Exposed, which is based on real cases and frontline experiences in the fight against human trafficking.
The conversation provides valuable information to parents, child protection practitioners, policymakers, and members of the public on warning signs in an adoption application that signals potential trafficking and abuse of judicial processes.
Questions to Justice Fiona Mwale:
- What is adoption?
- What is illegal adoption?
- What is the role of judiciary in adoption matters?
- Based on your expertise, what are the most common warning signs in an adoption application that signal potential trafficking and illegality to a presiding judge?
- How does the court definitively verify that the biological parents or guardians provided voluntary, informed consent without coercion or improper financial inducement?
- What measures are required to investigate the child’s familial origins to ensure the child was not stolen or sold prior to the court’s placement?
- How does the court verify the integrity and thoroughness of the Guardian ad Litem or social welfare report regarding the prospective parents’ motives and backgrounds?
- What exact criminal and procedural background checks are performed on foreign or local adopters to prevent child trafficking, “birth simulation,” or exploitation?
- How does the court balance the principle of “the best interests of the child” against possible illegal market practices when finalizing an adoption order?
- At what point does an irregular placement cross the legal threshold into criminal child trafficking?
- How does the High Court navigate international adoptions when paperwork from a child’s country of origin appears fraudulent?
- How heavily do judges rely on independent reports from Social Welfare Officers versus evidence presented by adoption agencies?
- Under what legal mechanisms can the High Court revoke an adoption order if institutional fraud is discovered after the fact?
- What criminal penalties or disciplinary actions face legal practitioners or agencies found facilitating illegal adoptions?
- If adoption is deemed illegal and halted, what immediate legal protections are triggered to secure the child’s placement?
Justice Fiona Mwale Shares Insights Into 400 Missing Children and Babies
Premiere: 12th July 2026
Time: 8pm CET / 2pm EST
Platform: Maxwell Matewere YouTube Channel
About Justice Fiona Atupele Mwale
She is a well-known diligent and multifaceted High Court Judge with 10 years of experience at the bench, specializing in: juvenile justice, child rights and family law, and criminal law. She also has 20 years of prior combined and extensive experience at the national and regional level in prosecution, gender-related law reform, criminal and civil litigation, and legal research. Justice Mwale is a proficient and highly-experienced judicial trainer with over 17 years of experience training at both the national and international level in gender-based violence, trafficking in persons, gender and child responsive adjudication and courtroom management and family law.
