Groups demand justice as rape and defilement soar in county

Atieno* received a call from her daughter’s teachers, asking her to rush to school.

On arrival, she was told that her 16-year-old daughter Nekesa*, was sick with a sexually transmitted infection (STI) that had left her with grotesque wounds in her private parts.

“The person who defiled her is a preacher,” says Mary Makokha, a women’s rights activist who is currently hosting Nekesa for her safety.

The girl was defiled while living with the preacher's family and performing household chores since the pastor’s wife was nursing a fractured leg.

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“We are worshippers at the church. When the pastor’s wife had the accident, many of us visited her in the hospital. She asked if people could help find a young lady who could help with domestic chores back at home,” Atieno says.

Nekesa, having struck a rapport with the preacher’s wife, offered to help. Atieno did not object since she did not have any reason to fear for her daughter.

Only to learn later that the ‘man of God’ - whom some in the congregation refer to as 'prophet' – had defiled her daughter.

With the help of Ms Makokha, Atieno reported to the authorities. The pastor was arrested and a court case was instituted against him. At the time of filing this story, he had been released on a Sh100,000 bond.

What happened to Nekesa is not shocking. Sometime last year, an MCA appeared in court, his face concealed behind a hood and a mask, accused of defiling a 14-year-old girl.

Sources told The Sunday Standard that the  MCA had a week-long rendezvous with the 14-year-old at different hotels and lodgings in Busia, Bungoma and Kakamega towns.

Still, in 2023, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) picked up a case involving a police officer stationed at Aterait police station in Teso South, who was accused of raping a 21-year-old woman.

Ms Makokha is the founder of the Rural Education and Economic Empowerment Program (REEEP) – a local non-profit organisation championing women’s and girls’ rights.

“Rape is rampant in Busia. Since 1998, when we began handling gender-based violence (GBV) cases, we have recorded close to 14,000 cases of rape. And these are just the ones we got informed about,” she says.

During this interview towards the end of July, Makokha received distressing news of two grandmothers in Nambogoto, Funyula sub-county, who had been silent victims of a man from within the village.

Makokha says no woman is safe in Busia: if not an octogenarian then it is a three-year-old girl – like is the case of Nasike* from Butula.

“The incident took place on April 12. I had gone to the market. I received a frantic call from my mother; she was asking me to head back home immediately.

“She said my daughter had been injured. I kept asking what kind of injury but she wouldn’t budge. I asked, is she burnt? Did she have a bad fall? My mother only told me to head home quickly,” says Nasike*, 23, mother to the defiled toddler.

Even before she could go to the place where the young girl was being attended to, she heard her daughter's screams and knew right away something terrible had happened.

“She was bleeding badly. She had been defiled by someone and dumped in the bushes.”

So extensive was the damage that the little girl underwent four corrective surgeries, with more expected to follow.

Makokha has made it her life’s mission to have every rape or defilement suspect taken through the justice system and (if proven guilty) made to pay for their crimes.

REEEP, working with international not-for-profit Equality Now, is providing psychotherapy counselling, legal advice, victim protection and reporting of cases to authorities.

Jean-Paul Murunga is the Programme Officer at Equality Now.

“Rape and defilement are crimes under Kenyan law that are punishable by at least 10 years in prison and all rapists must face the full force of the law," he says.

Other recent cases of rape in Busia include a brother defiling his half-sister in Ikonzo village, a neighbour defiling a four-year-old in Burumba area, a young woman raped by six men in Butula, and a seven-year-old girl's body found dumped. She is suspected to have been defiled before her death in Bukhalalire.

According to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) 2022, Busia is not even among the top five counties with the highest rate of sexual violence against women aged 15 to 49.

Makokha says many rape and defilement cases are resolved hastily via kangaroo courts presided over by selfish village elders.

“They will ask the rapist to give a cow or a goat, or money as recompense for their action. Afterwards, life goes on like nothing happened. We are fighting to put a complete stop to these unjust methods of solving SGBV,” Makokha states.

According to Kenya Health Information System (KHIS) from January to June this year, already 223 females in Busia county have been to hospitals after rape or defilement.

Makokha blames the high rape incidence rate on patriarchy.

“A female in our culture is a second-class citizen. Men look at women as things that add pleasure or make their lives easier. Culture has also taught women that it is okay for a man to sexually harass them. Married women expect husbands to beat them when they ‘misbehave’.

“Thus, the cases being reported are only the tip of the iceberg as  many SGBV survivors do not even have the understanding that a crime has been committed against them.”

On defilement targeting toddlers, she suspects rituals.

A resident of Butula who did not want to be named said, “That could be ritualistic. I have heard rumours that an HIV-positive man could be healed if they have sex with a virgin.”

Chief Magistrate Edna Nyalote says besides patriarchal culture, poverty levels are high; making it easy for men to lure and attack girls and women.

“We can’t also rule out parental carelessness. Some parents are not being deliberately present in their children’s lives. It is very common for children to attend 'disco matanga' (local night vigil discos at bereaved homes). They become extremely exposed to harm,” she says.

Makokha says she, together with other activists, has been calling on the Busia County Government to set up a safe house for victims of gender-based violence, but this has not been actualised.

“We need the safe house to host, counsel and give legal advice to victims and survivors. Some of the victims stand zero chance of ever getting justice if left in the same environment that left them exposed to abuse,” says Makokha.