National government administrative officers in Murang’a County have raised alarm over increased cases of sexual and gender-based violence (GBV) in the region.
They have now called on all stakeholders, including the churches and the community at large, to join hands during the just-launched 90 days of the Rapid Response Initiative (RRI) that seeks to combat the nationwide surge in gender-based violence and femicide.
The 90-day RRI will mainly focus on accelerated justice, hotspot crackdowns, and expansion of safe spaces while.
Murang’a County Commissioner (CC) Hassan Ali Bule, speaking during this year’s Madaraka Day celebrations in Makuyu, called on the public to collaborate with administrators to eliminate these vices.
“We must come together as a society and fight against sexual and gender-based violence in our homes because more often than not, these actions are not perpetuated by strangers but by people who are known to the victims.
“Defilement, for instance, is not committed by a stranger; research has shown that people very close to the child are the ones who are capable of defiling her, and therefore we must restore a sense of community and family spirit,” he noted.
The CC implored the public to restore the African cultural values, which forbid most of the vices that are happening today.
“It has become effortless today to kill children and throw them in rivers like we witnessed in Gatanga earlier in the week; women are being killed, men too are being killed, and this points to a serious issue of moral decay and abandonment of our culture,” he said.
The CC revealed that sensitization forums will be carried out throughout the county, whose statistics keep soaring.
According to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS), the county’s FGM prevalence rate stands at 17.5 percent.
Statistics further indicate that the county has the highest prevalence rates of physical and sexual violence towards women and girls, with the majority of the perpetrators being intimate partners or current husbands.
The survey notes that 53.7 per cent of women have experienced physical violence, while 24 per cent of women have ever experienced sexual violence.
“We cannot turn a blind eye to this vice that is happening in our homes. If you witness violence against a woman or man where you live, pass the message to the authorities, and action will be taken so that we don’t lose more lives,” he observed.
Bule also noted that the relationship between sexual and gender-based violence and substance abuse cannot be ignored, and the fight against the latter will be relentless through crackdowns to bring back a sober nation.
“We are also worried about the increased cases of suicides, especially in men. Let us come together as Christians or Muslims and be our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers,” he said.
The CC added, “Some of the issues emanate from inheritance and land, and that is why the family spirit must be restored, as a healthy society will play a crucial role in preventing domestic violence, sexual abuse, and mental health challenges that often lead to suicide.”
On her part, Maragua Member of Parliament Mary Wamaua called on the county government to regulate the licensing of bars and liquor outlets.
“We have liquor outlets right in the villages and residential areas, yet they have been licensed to operate for 24 hours, which is very unfortunate because the society’s fight cannot be won without a serious review of the regulation,” she said.
The MP also called on the residents to support the government in the fight against sexual and gender-based violence, adding that it was crippling the development of the nation.
Wamaua also implored the public to exercise political tolerance, even as the country gears up for the 2027 polls.
“Let us maintain peace; the political class must also refrain from incitement because with your voter’s card ready, the electorate will determine who clinches positions in next year’s polls,” she said.
By Florence Kinyua and Bernard Munyao
