Gender and Affirmative Action Principal Secretary Anne Wang’ombe has called for the immediate abolition of existing kangaroo courts that are being used to settle Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) cases in the community.

Wang’ombe has lamented over the continued use of the informal courts in some quarters to settle the SGBV cases, which she termed as sensitive, thereby denying the survivors justice and allows the culprits to perpetuate the crime.

“We are saying there is no room for kangaroo courts where there is violence, where our children have been defiled or where we have rape cases. These are criminal acts and there is no room for negotiating outside the court rooms,” she said.

The principal secretary has also commended the judiciary for the progress made in handling SGBV but urged for the speedy resolution of any pending case.        

“We are happy with what has been happening. We are just saying just go an extra mile,” she said.

Wang’ombe spoke at Nyeri National Polytechnic on Monday on the sidelines of the launch of the grassroots leaders’ sensitisation programme on National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) programme.

She decried the escalating SGBV and suicide cases in the county, which she noted were at an all-time high

According to the principal secretary, the county has in the past three months recorded 46 SGBV cases with the latest case involving a 76-year-old man who had repeatedly been defiling a nine-year-old girl. Similarly, a total of 106 suicide cases were recorded in the last 11 months in the county with a majority of the victims being men.

“Last week alone, the statistics that I got for suicide were 101 with 77 being men and 24 being women. When I came today, just one week later, I am being told that the cases have gone to 107. Within one week, we have lost 6 people to suicide. This is quite alarming,” said the principal secretary.

She attributed the cases to poverty, domestic problems, consumption of alcohol and drugs and hopelessness.

While acknowledging the gravity of the issues, she urged members of the community to join forces to address the two emerging issues. She also urged men who are struggling with mental health issues to seek help instead of resorting to suicide.

“In the state department, we have programmes that are running to address some of these challenges that we are facing. These are not challenges that the government can sort out on its own. They require a multi-agency approach where everybody including political, religious and the national administration must come on board,” she said.

“We are going to have programmes together with the political leadership of this county in each and every sub-county so that we can have a conversation with our men, particularly so that we can try to understand what the issues are, so that we can also agree on the way forward,” she added.

• A Tell Media / KNA report / By Wangari Mwangi