By S, KNA
Busia County Commissioner Stephen Orinde has promised to fight increased cases of gender-based violence (GVB) and defilement in the county.
Speaking during the 62nd Jamhuri day celebrations at Apokor primary in Teso Central Sub County on Friday, Orinde said that Busia County has been ranked among the leading counties with a high number of reported GBV cases stressing the need to fight against them.
“Statistics show that the cases of defilement and GBV are high and we must ensure that we bring this to an end. We are going to take appropriate measures that will ensure all perpetrators have faced the law and we know that the sentence for these cases is high-up to life imprisonment,” said the CC.
Orinde however expressed his concern over the decline in performance of schools in Busia County, associating it with increased night parties.
“We have realized that the performance of our schools in this county is going down. One of the causes is increased night parties which are rampant in this county. If we want to secure the future of our nation and children, we must make sure our children’s education is secured. We are going to ensure we finish the issue of ‘disco Matanga’ so that even the cases of early pregnancies and school dropouts are reduced,” he said
He further issued a warning to the youth who are forming criminal gangs that the security is going to handle them appropriately.
“We are in the festive seasons and we have information about the young people who are forming groups to interrupt peace in our county. Our security team is alert to ensure the security of people. If you are in any formation that is not registered and your dealings are not known, we are not going to entertain you.”
He at the same time urged those engaging in gold mining to ensure they follow proper guidelines that are required for their safety.
“We are lucky to have gold in our county but we cannot be mining without proper guidelines. We need to have proper mining gears for our own safety. We are going to meet the stakeholders and those mining so that we can get a better way forward even as they engage in gold mining,” he said.
Busia County Governor Paul Otuoma asked leaders to support the government rather than opposing development projects that are meant to help the people
“I have seen some leaders going to court so that they prevent the health deal between the government of Kenya and the government of USA. This is for the life of Kenyans and not an individual issue. Let’s not always oppose the actions and development that the government does because they aim at helping Kenyans,” he said.
Otuoma rallied the residents of Busia to continue supporting the government for better development in the county.
“This government has brought many developments in this county including markets, roads among others. We were far behind so there is a need to get more of these projects. This can only be achieved if we support the work done by the government.
The celebration was attended by a delegation from Uganda who promised to strengthen collaboration between Kenya and Uganda.