Murkomen decries rising cases of rape, defilement in Taita Taveta

Internal Security Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen. [File, Standard]

Internal Security Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has raised an alarm over the rising cases of defilement and rape in Taita Taveta County.

Other prevalent cases the CS decried include early marriages and pregnancies which have badly affected the girl child education.

Mr Murkomen noted that sexual gender-based violence (SGBV) especially on minors and women continue to become the latest form of crime in the region.

He declared that the government will not relent in their efforts to l ensure the county and country at large is free from the vices that form the bulk of the general crime.

Speaking at Bura trading centre when he officially opened the new Bura Police Station in Mwatate Sub County yesterday, Mr Murkomen warned local elders and national government administrative officers (NGAO) against arbitrating such cases at the grassroots level through “Kangaroo courts”.

The police station was constructed by the National Government Mwatate Constituency Development fund to the tune of Sh 10 million.

The CS warned that these “courts” have badly been affecting the justice delivering system.

Without giving figures, Murkomen disclosed that defilement and rape cases are on the rise in the region. The CS warned that no such cases should be arbitrated at home.

Kipchumba who was accompanied by the Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Lagat and Mwatate lMP Peter Shake attributed the rise of SGBV to retrogressive cultures of solving such cases at home for fear of retribution, hardcore drugs and illicit brews.

Others who accompanied the CS were County Commissioner Linda Okola, Assembly Speaker Wisdom Mwamburi, former Governor John Mruttu and former Woman representative Joyce Wanjala Lay

The leaders also attributed the rising cases to widespread same and consumption of illicit brews and drugs, breakdown in marriages, lack of parental care and illiteracy levels among others.

“The perpetrators of sexual violence should be arrested and prosecuted. There are available penal institutions for the sexual offenders so that children can be free from sexual abuse. Let me remind the security apparatus in the region that “Kangaroo Courts “are illegal and anyone found abating them in his or her area of jurisdiction will be disciplined,” warned the CS.

“We must bring to an end GBV cases. WE are giving criminals a notice  and we will not tolerate any criminal activities,” added Mr Lagat.

At the same time Murkomen disclosed that a lot of hardcore drugs have been originating from the neighbouring country through the porous Kenya-Tanzania border which he described as the conduit point for smuggling of contraband goods.

“The security teams should be vigilant enough to effectively deal with infiltration of hardcore drugs, cheap liquor into the country which has been originating from the neighboring country

Kipchumba said they had made changes in the county security team in the region to help improve the delivery of quality services to the locals. “We have a new county security committee team in the region which has stabilized rising cases of highway robberies and carjackings along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway, which had been hit by a spate of crime in the recent past,” he told the meeting.

In the recent past, a middle woman who went missing from home was later found dead near the Wundanyi Kenya National Library (KNLS) fence.

Police said the deceased was first abducted, gang raped and subsequently murdered by her running assailants.

Villagers found the body of the woman naked and her two legs tied with a rope and her eyes gouged out, according to the police and villagers who visited the scene of the crime.

In another recent case, a minor was  defiled and brutally murdered before her body was dumped in the nearby fish pond at Kese village in Taita Sub County, an apparent attempt to disguise the crime as a drowning incident.

The incident instilled fear in parents and children alike, and undermines the safety and dignity of girls in our community,” stated a woman leader Dorine Ngeti.

“We emphasize that this is not an isolated incident but part of a disturbing trend, this innocent child’s life must not end in silence. The law enforcers should act swiftly and justly to not only bring the perpetrators to book but also protect other children from similar harm,” noted another women leader Dorin Ngeti.

She called for the establishment of a special county task force on child protection and GBVs, including school based safety policies.

“We stand united in calling for justice and protection for all children.

We believe that the Judiciary and county assembly hold moral and constitutional obligation to prot4ct children, ensure justice and restore faith in the rule of law.

The life of the little girl lost must not be in vain, her story should ignite a stronger fight against child abuse, defilement, incest and femicide in Kenya,” added Ngeti.

Further, the CS urged local parents to take their children to school. He said the government has put in place proper school infrastructure and it would be wrong to underutilize them.