Femicide in Kenya: Sabina Chege advocates for counseling, mentorship

According to Chege, who spoke against the backdrop of several murders targeting women, the scourge can be addressed through appropriate counselling and mentorship. 

She also questioned the recent march, during which thousands of Kenyans—mostly women—took to the streets to call for action in response to a number of horrific killings. 

According to her, while the protest was a step in the right direction, the march focused solely on woke attendees and drew media attention without accomplishing much. 

"They could have gone to colleges, or universities and called all these girls and created awareness," she said. 

"Once you go to the street , yes you do it for the media and everything else but you don't really communicate much...the best way is to start these mentorship program where you can talk to these girls."

According to Sabina, whose perspective on femicide drew the ire of Kenyans online, who accused her of blaming the victims, girls must understand that 'life does not begin at the top'. 

"Counselling, mentorship and girls accepting that you cannot start life from the top, girls need to know they need to work hard and not just looking at money," she said. 

"There is no free money in this world. There is nothing that comes for free, the only thing that is free is air and it is given by God."

Sabina urged school-aged girls to complete their education and temper their expectations of receiving money from men during her interview with Kiss FM. 

"Wake up work hard, if you are in school complete your school look for a job, don't expect that men will be giving you money, it will not happen," she added.

Her sentiments drew the ire of Kenyans online, who mocked her for what they termed as "a lack of depth to discuss the matter."

"Data informs decisions.80% of these killings have happened in homes. So who are we counseling and mentoring?" an X user, Wangari posed. 

According to Kusajishi, another X user, Ms Chege's reasoning made absolutely no sense as married women as well as divorcees had also been victims of femicide. 

"So married women and divorcées being murdered by their spouses wanted to start from the top?" Kusajishi asked. 

"Total lack of depth . A woman in a “stable “marriage who was providing for the excuse of a man got killed , a girl walking home got killed ,and the list of women killed when they didn’t take anything from anybody is endless what’s Sabina talking about," Tom Oyier said on Twitter. 

Several murders in Kenya over the last two months have highlighted a concerning pattern of gender-based violence. 

One involved the murder and dismemberment of Rita Waeni, a 20-year-old university student, in Nairobi's Roysambu neighbourhood. 

A week prior to her demise, Startlet Wahu, another Kenyan woman, was robbed and fatally stabbed by a man she had booked an Airbnb with. 

Femicide Count Kenya, which monitors killings reported in local news, recorded 58 deaths it labelled as femicide between January and October 2022. 

In 2023, the organisation said it recorded at least 152 killings – the highest in the past five years.