President William Ruto on Sunday announced that his government will take key strides to address the ever-rising cases of femicide that have been on the rise in the country.
Speaking in Nairobi during the 73rd Anniversary of the African Divine Church in Nairobi, the Head of State revealed that his government will do whatever it takes to help address the problem.
According to Ruto, he will see to it that the police are empowered with the necessary resources to aid their operational framework in addressing the cases.
''We have a criminal problem and we have a moral problem, we need to address both of them. As government I want to promise you that we will go out of our way to provide resources for our police to deal with this challenge,’’ Ruto declared.
Ruto’s comments came after Nairobi Governor Johson Sakaja requested him to address the plight of the hundreds of women who have ended up victims of the vice, which has in the last three months alone claimed the lives of 97 women according to data from the police.
''Your Excellency you are here, the women of Nairobi are crying, the women of our country are crying, let us give them security, let us also look into the affairs of our police and surveillance operations,’’ Sakaja implored.
According to Ruto, the rise in the cases of violence against women was particularly to blame on moral and criminal issues, which he stated had been overlooked in the recent past.
''It is hurting our girls, it is hurting our families, we will work together and we are going to have a comprehensive program on how we are going to address this in a wholesome manner, so that we can deal with the criminal issues and apply our moral minds on how to deal with this,’’ Ruto stated.
Ruto further called upon parents and Kenyans to come together and aid the authorities in combating violence that has left many with injuries and in extreme cases, some ending up dead.
''Equally, as parents, starting with myself, as parents, as Kenyans, we must also deal with the moral issue. Let us not just finger-point as to who should do what, we should also begin by saying as a citizen what will I do to stop the menace,’’ he added.
Consequently, the President also challenged the perpetrators of the vice to consider changing their minds before hurting many women across the nation.
''Our youth, especially the ladies, if we could be loving them, instead of showing them love now we have changed it to killings, how can it be that our girls, the women of Kenya that we expect to love, that now they are dying in the hands of men?,’’ Ruto questioned.
Ruto’s remarks also came at a time when there has been rage over the rising number of femicide cases, with civil groups calling for the state to address the issue. The President directed the Directorate of Criminal Investigations(DCI) on Friday, to immediately embark on investigations to end the vice.
"I know that recently, we have seen incidents of our girls, our mothers, and women who have been murdered in cold blood. Let me say this, the DCI and all the investigative authorities in Kenya must stand up to these criminals," Ruto directed.
