Kenya establishes taskforce to address femicide crisis

Kenya’s first femicide case of 2025 was reported on January 13, a day after Kenyan President William Ruto set up a 42-member taskforce to assess, review, and recommend policies and structures to curtail gender-based violence (GBV) including femicide cases in the country.

Three weeks earlier, police teargassed hundreds of women protestors who were on the streets calling for an end to femicide and GBV from Kenya’s leadership.

In 2024 alone, more than 4,000 GBV cases were reported each month in Kenyan hospitals, according to Anne Wango’mbe, the Principal Secretary, Gender and Affirmative Action. Women aged 18-40 years form the largest demographic of GBV/femicide victims.

Throughout 2024, news reports in this East African country regularly included stories of young women losing their lives tragically. Kenyan police indicated that from August through October of 2024, an average of one woman per day was killed (Rage Grows Over a Spate of Brutal Murders of Women in Kenya). Although the police do not provide statistics for earlier periods, figures compiled by the Africa Data Hub, show that there were at least 75 femicide cases in 2023, 46 cases in 2022, and 70 in 2021.

Statistically, last year was the worst year for the safety of women and girls in the last decade. And the violent deaths of 97 women in a three-month period caught the attention of the country’s top office.

President Ruto addressed the issue on several occasions, describing the violent crimes as causing immense physical, emotional, and economic harm to the country, while blaming the rate of femicide on moral and criminal issues in the republic.

But is the government doing enough to make a meaningful reduction in such attacks?

Fourteen murders in January 2024 led to protests on the 27th day of that month. Thousands of women marched in different cities and towns calling on the government to keep them safe.

The issue attracted more attention when Kenya’s criminal investigative agency (DCI) reported the deaths of two young women in their 20s – Starlet Wahu 26, a well-known social media personality, and university student Rita Waeni. Both were killed in the capital, Nairobi, and both took place at AirBnB apartments in the span of 10 days. The short-stay service’s properties have been a popular choice for perpetrators. Kenya has more than 10,000 Airbnb listings, according to police.

Starlet, a sister to a popular preacher, was found dead on January 4, 2024. Police reported that the autopsy revealed a stab wound to the head, a deep cut on the right thigh, and a human bite on the left arm. Her alleged killer, 34-year-old John Matara pleaded not guilty in a case that has been adjourned to March 11 of this year.

Police investigations pointed to Matara being a possible serial sexual offender who allegedly used dating apps to lure women into his apartment and extort money while sexually assaulting them. Matara had over 10 assault cases filed against him in different police stations across the city since 2023. However, it was only after Starlet’s death that the police took him into custody.

Ten days after Starlet’s death, the police confirmed another case, this time 24-year-old Rita Waeni. Her decapitated body was found in an Airbnb apartment in the morning, and the perpetrator was long gone, according to police. The two cases fueled protests countrywide that culminated with protestors making 10 demands to the head of state.

During the 16 days of activism, President Ruto announced the investment of 100 million Kenyan shillings (US$770,000) in a Safe Home, Safe Space campaign.

While launching the initiative, the Ruto noted that 4 out of 5 women killed in Kenya are victims of intimate partner violence. Recent statistics suggest approximately 75% of femicides in Kenya are committed by individuals well known to the victims, often intimate partners or family members.

Ruto promised that justice would be swift and efficient – a different approach from the historical norm.

According Africa Data Hub, it takes an average of 5.2 years for a femicide case to be concluded and the suspect sentenced, a timeline that extends the grief of those close to the victims. And that number does not include the cases in which the suspect appeals a guilty verdict.

In November 2024, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) reported the conviction of a suspect who was among six who had been committing murders in Nakuru, a city located 161 kilometers from the capital. Evance Michori was sentenced to 28 years in prison.

His case, being an accessory to murder, took 880 days from arrest in June 2022 to conviction in November 2024. Yet, this is one of the few that has reached conviction. Others, including the cases involving Michori’s five accomplices, drag on in the courts.

On July 12, 2024, eight bodies were discovered mutilated and dumped at a quarry in Nairobi. The police announced that forensic analysis had determined the victims were all female. Three days after the discovery, suspect Collins Jumaisi Khalusha, 33, was arrested. Khalusha confessed to killing 42 women, his wife included, in a span of two years. He was taken into custody awaiting to be arraigned in court, only to escape from police cells in Kenya’s diplomatic district five days later. He is still at large.

Khalusha’s lawyer claimed that police used torture to extract the confession, and the uncharacteristic speed of the arrest has stoked skepticism among many Kenyans. (Did Police in Kenya Catch a Serial Killer or Coerce a Confession?)

On paper, there is a commitment to fight to protect females. Kenya is a signatory to the Maputo Protocol, an international human rights agreement that protects the rights of women and girls in Africa. The protocol was adopted by the African Union in 2003.

In 2004, the Kenyan government rolled out gender desks at police stations to receive and investigate cases of sexual and gender-based violence. These desks are meant to help eliminate fear and shame that comes with the abuse, and support the prosecution of perpetrators. By 2023, a UN report indicated that about 50% of Kenya’s police stations have gender desks.

However, the gender desks where victims are supposed to safely report the crime are not run by officers trained to handle SGBV (sexual and gender based violence) cases. This often compromises the integrity of the cases and sometimes leads to poor evidence collection.

In 2006, a Sexual Offenses Act of Parliament became law. Among other things, it itemizes sexual crimes including rape, gang rape, sexual assault, child and sex trafficking, incest, and defilement.

That law put in place strict penalties ranging from decade-long imprisonment to a life sentence for offenders. It also had a raft of measures requiring the creation of a sex offender register.

In June 2023, Kenya’s Chief Justice Martha K. Koome launched an electronic sexual offenders register, an initiative by the judiciary intended to give easy access to information on convicted sex offenders for relevant authorities and stakeholders. However, the list is only accessible to the public on request.

In 2022, the Kenyan judiciary sought to clamp down on sex- and gender-based violent offenders by setting up Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) Courts. These would improve access to justice for victims who are mainly women and children. Beyond giving legal advice, these courts co-ordinate psychological, social, and medical support for survivors of SGBV cases. This approach aimed to help preserve survivors’ dignity and mitigate trauma during the legal process.

The data on cases convicted in these courts is not available publicly.

Obviously, the police also play an integral role in the delivery of justice.

In 2023, Kenya’s national police service launched its standard operating procedures for prevention and response to gender based violence in Kenya. These procedures include improvements in training for serving police officers and new recruits on GBV (gender-based violence), improving the capacity of officers on collection, handling, and preservation of forensic evidence, and ensuring charge sheets are signed, and suspects are taken to court within 24 hours.

A year later, the DCI noted that from 2021 to 2024, 94 cases of killings of women and girls were reported, and 65 suspects were arraigned in various courts across the country. However, many investigations are still pending with suspects not yet brought in for booking.

Of course, GBV is not just a Kenyan issue. GBV including femicide is increasingly menacing across the continent. Last year, UNICEF revealed that more than 79 million girls and women – or 1 in 5 women – across sub-Saharan Africa experience rape or sexual assault before turning 18. This underscores the urgent need for strong action from government bodies, police forces, and the general population in addressing Africa’s ongoing crisis of violence against females.