A couple in Teso North are in shock after learning that their baby has no anus. The discovery comes three months after the child's birth. Unknown to them, baby Leah Ajah has been passing faeces through her private parts. The parents James Ijaa Imai, 37, and Everlyne Imai, 27, are now appealing for financial support to enable their child undergo corrective surgery. "I was not aware my child had a strange abnormality until yesterday," Everlyne said.

She says she has never heard or seen a child born without an anus. The child's grandmother, Salome Asikute, was equally perturbed. "When I returned from the burial of a relative in Kitale I found my daughter-in-law had delivered at home but I failed to detect the deformity." Ijaa says there is no family history of such an abnormality. Ijaa said he is blessed with one son and six daughters and the deformity will not stop him from loving his wife and children.

Medical experts say cases of children born without an anal opening in Kenya are rare. They agree that Baby Leah needs to undergo reconstructive surgery. Uganda has had over three such reported cases with victims undergoing successful reconstructive surgeries at the Mulago Hospital in Kampala. One of the cases was reported in December 2009.

The parents of a two-month old baby discovered their child had no anus. The baby underwent corrective surgery at the Mulago hospital. In May this year, a woman in Tororo district gave birth to a baby with a tumour around her anal area. Doctors say such conditions occur in about one in 5,000 births and its cause is unknown.

The surgery involves creating an opening for the passage of stool. An imperforate anus defect prevents all stools from passing out through the rectum. The surgery repairs the defect so that stool can move through the rectum. Hundreds of people are flocking the couples' home in Angurai to witness the rare phenomena which has puzzled residents.