In a sombre gathering at the City Mortuary, a section of women leaders from across the country visited to mourn with the families of women whose mutilated and dismembered bodies were discovered at the Kware dumpsite.
The discovery has left the nation in shock and mourning, with a call for swift and thorough investigations into the heinous acts.
On her official social media platforms, Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru expressed the collective grief and urgency for action into the inhumane deaths of women found at the dumpsite located in Mururu Kwa Njenga.
"This weekend has been heavy on the nation's heart with the discovery of 8 mutilated and dismembered bodies of women in Kware. We grieve for them and their families.”
We all now call for comprehensive and speedy investigations including today's scheduled multi-stakeholder witnessed postmortem. May God protect our daughters and women," Waiguru wrote.
The brutal killings have sparked outrage and fear, highlighting the escalating crisis of Gender-Based Violence in the country.
Speaking at the City Mortuary, Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire emphasized the need for a coordinated response and stronger measures to address the alarming trend.
"When you have reports of about 10 women disappearing from different families in one month and then maybe another 5, then another 6, you are able to see a particular trend and you start working on it," Governor Mbarire stated.
Mbarire proposed that the National Police Service (NPS) re-introduce the gender desk in all stations and collaborate with the Ministry of Gender to end the menace.
The county boss also explained that the desk will help in collecting data on GBV in the country for a more intentional approach to arrest the problem.
"Going forward, we are going to be asking the National Police to revive the gender desks that we had created way back after passing the Sexual Offences Act and ensure that they work closely with the Ministry of Gender so that these officers are well-trained, get the necessary budgetary support and we have some form of collecting data that comes every day in police stations so that we can know where we are when it comes to gender violence.”
“Gender is not about women, it is also about men and so we are able to look at crimes from a gender lens and be able to identify where it could be coming from. As women leaders, we are going to push for that to happen and happen very soon,” Mbarire explained.
Governor Mbarire also highlighted the importance of ensuring proper funding for these initiatives to make them effective and achieve results.
"As the supplementary budget comes back on the floor of the House we can make sure there is some money put aside for this kind of information and arrangement so that going forward we can deal with femicide and other gender-related crimes that seem to target certain gender so that they can stop. We believe that is the way forward,” the governor stated.
The visit by the women leaders was marked by a deep sense of solidarity and determination to bring justice to the victims and their families.
The female leaders asked Kenyans to stand in solidarity with the families and help them psychologically and financially.
