TW: Discussion of gendered violence.
In the past few months, Kenya has witnessed a worrying surge in femicide cases, sparking concerns locally and internationally over the security and safety of women.
With reports of brutal killings from various parts of the country, activists, advocates and international organisations on women’s rights have sounded an alarm about the crisis that threatens the lives of women and girls.
According to Kenya’s Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Kipkoech Lagat, at least 97 women have been killed in Kenya in the past three months.
Speaking in a press briefing on the high numbers of women killed in the country, Lagat said cases of murder and manslaughter have been on the rise since 2022 highlighting a deep-seated crisis of gender-based violence against women.
If the victims are not murdered in hotel rooms, their mutilated bodies are discovered in quarries or bushes, miles away from their homes.
The recent killing of a mother and her two daughters is the latest gruesome statistic following another troubling discovery of the decomposed bodies of women dumped in an abandoned quarry in Mukuru area which is about seven kilometres (3.4 miles) South of Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) in the capital city of Kenya.
What is more is the horrific nature of killing where some of the women whose bodies were discovered were beheaded while others were dismembered.
“This troubling trend highlights the urgent need for focused actions and collaboration to tackle the widespread problem of gender-based violence in our society,” said Lagat.
The heightened femicide reports prompted the head of state President William Ruto to announce war on the perpetrators directing security agencies in the county to combat the worrying trend of femicide in Kenya.
“I know that recently we have seen incidents of our girls, our mothers, our women who have been murdered in cold blood. The DCI and all the investigative authorities must stand up to these criminals and we must deal decisively and firmly,” said President Ruto during the swearing-in of a new deputy president Professor Kithure Kindiki.
His directive came after women rights organisations led by the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) called on the president to officially declare femicide a national crisis and a disaster.
“Domestic violence and the increasing femicide are acts that highlight the deep-seated issues of violence and inequality that we are working to change. Every individual deserves the right to live in an environment free from violence, fear, abuse and harm,” read a joint statement by human rights groups led by FIDA-K.
Activists and analysts on women’s rights argue that homicide cases have amplified and manifested the rising cases of extreme domestic violence.
According to FIDA-K, at least 30 women have died in the hands of intimate partners as a result of domestic violence and femicide.
“We maintain that these are not just statistics but innocent women whose lives were cut short by horrifying acts of violence, changing the lives of their families forever,” the statement read in part.
The violent manner in which their lives have been lost speaks to the levels of violence against women and girls in Kenya. The brutality of their murders speaks to a dangerous and unresolved national crisis,” the statement reads further.
According to UN Women, at least 500 women and girls have been murdered in Kenya since 2016. According to UN Women, the Kenyan government has committed to ending Gender-Based violence (GBV) by the year 2026 as part of its global leadership of Generation Equality’s Action Coalition with a robust legal framework on gender-based violence put in place to combat such violence.
However, there have been concerns raised over lack of commitment by law enforcement agencies to bring to book the perpetrators of the heinous crimes.
The recent incident where the main suspect in the murders of women whose bodies were discovered in a quarry escaped from a police station in Nairobi. Collins Jumaisi Khalusha, a suspected serial killer admitted to killing 42 women including his wife over the past two years.
Despite the tight security, police spokesperson Resila Onyango announced that Khalusha escaped from police custody alongside 12 Eritrean nationals, raising questions if the police helped him escape.
Khalusha, who the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) termed as a ‘vampire’ at the time, was arrested in July 2024 in connection with the discovery of at least six bodies wrapped in bags in the quarry which is now used as a dumpsite.
“We are still appealing for information that will lead to the re-arrest of Collins Chumaisi Kalusa, the primary suspect in the Quarry murders who escaped from police custody. The National Police Service remains dedicated to robust measures aimed at combating femicide,” the Deputy Inspector General of Police appealed.
Speaking at the DIG’s press briefing, the Principal Secretary for State Department for Gender and Affirmative Action Anne Wang’ombe said the traumatising events where women and girls, have been targeted in a spate of gruesome killings paint a grim picture of the return of femicide to the society.
“Not only do these horrific events devastate families, but they also shake the community as a whole, making people live in constant fear and anxiety, ever worrying about their safety and those of their loved ones,” PS Wang’ombe decried.