Over 200 women in Eldoret took to the streets to protest against increased cases of femicide, calling on the government to act decisively to avert more killings.
Led by a member of the Uasin Gishu County Assembly (MCA), Mercy Chepkurui, the women matched through the streets of Eldoret for six hours, from as early as 7 a.m. chanting ‘end femicide and a woman is everything’.
Donning white T-shirts, the women, majority of whom were college students based in Eldoret, declared that they would not continue to remain silent as more women were killed for no apparent reason and called on President William Ruto to listen to their cries and protect the women folk from being murdered senselessly.
The women said they were not chickens to be slaughtered, as recently witnessed in some parts of the country.
She further said that families of women who have been murdered undergo a lot of trauma. “As women in Eldoret, we empathize with the affected families,” they said
Chepkurui also advised men to stop giving women incentives and thinking they have a right over them, including paying rent and educating them.
The women further said that most murder cases involving young women were ignored because of their gender. “Murder is murder, and the murder of a woman is just that, murder, the increased cases of femicide recently witnessed in our country to be declared a national disaster’ and dealt with decisively,” said the protesters.
The women now want the State to act on their behalf because the President understands the pain of families since he is a father.
By Kiptanui Cherono
