Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Youth, and Gender Affairs Margaret Kobia has condemned Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko over his verbal attack on Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris during the Madaraka Day Celebrations.
In a statement sent to newsrooms, the CS highlighted that she was gravely concerned by the ongoing onslaught on women in leadership positions in the country.
Kobia, who is responsible for advancing gender equality and women's empowerment joined other women in defending Passaris, asserting that no woman leader deserves being disgraced by public utterances.
She raised concern over how people have been perceiving gender-based violence as a normal thing forgetting that it set a bad precedent for children.
She accepted that its hard for Kenya as a country to have a dialogue on finding ways curbing the escalating human rights violation.
The CS urged leaders to exercise self-restraint and self-control. According to her, no worthy leader, man, woman or youth, should unleash such disrespectful utterances in public.
She promised that her ministry would continue to work with all stakeholders to ensure that no individual suffers abuse or have their rights violated because of their gender and that all Kenyans, male and female should work together to create a better Kenya.
Among the other notable women who defended Esther Passaris is Suba North MP Millie Odhiambo.
Passaris on Saturday walked out of the county's Madaraka Day celebrations at Pumwani Police Grounds after being verbally attacked by Governor Mike Sonko. This was after the women representative complained that Sonko ignored her phone calls.
The Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) called for the immediate arrest of Sonko over what they termed as hate speech.
Citizen TV's Jeff Koinange, on Wednesday night, was forced to cut his interview with Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko just a few minutes after it started as Governor Sonko started defending himself against Passaris' accusations.
