The Kenya Ports Authority has donated Sh6 million towards the establishment of a safe centre for women victims of sexual and gender-based abuse in Lamu.
It will be situated at Mokowe town on the mainland in Lamu west.
The donation is part of the KPAs Corporate Social Responsibility towards Lamu people even as the authority takes a more active and vigorous role due to the operationalization of the new port-Lapsset on May 20.
In March last year, the government announced the plan to build the rescue centre for sexually abused women and girls at Mokowe in honour of slain Public Works Principal Secretary, Mariam El Maawy.
El Maawy died in September 2017 at a South Africa hospital while undergoing treatment for injuries sustained in an al Shabaab attack at Milihoi area on the Lamu-Mpeketoni road on July 13 that same year.
The Mariam El Maawy Empowerment and Rescue Centre will have four sections.
They include those for rescuing and hosting abused women, a boarding school for sexually abused girls, an ICT centre and a general section set towards improving education, economic and trade standards in the region.
Speaking on Sunday, KPA acting managing director Rashid Salim said the centre will provide the necessary support and residence towards the victims in the region.
The move is also anticipated to foster a good working relationship between the authority and Lamu residents.
The authority also issued Sh646,000 cheque to the Football Kenya Federation Lamu branch to bolster the sport which has helped keep youth away from drugs.
“We are doing all this as our responsibility to the people of Lamu and for them to know we care,” Salim said.
Lamu is among counties with surging cases of sexual and gender-based violence with areas most affected being Mokowe, Hindi, Mpeketoni and Witu.
A few days ago, women rights bodies raised alarm over growing cases of gender-based violence occasioned by the loss of jobs by fishermen following dredging activities at the port.
Speaking on Sunday, Lamu woman representative Ruweida Obbo said misleading cultural beliefs remain the biggest hurdle towards winning the war on sexual and gender-based abuse in Lamu.
Obbo urged the community to rise from any culture that demeans women as many continue to suffer in silence.
She said the centre will help in providing shelter, counselling and economic support for such victims.
“We will be able to complete the safe centre whose construction has been ongoing at Mokowe albeit at a slow pace due to financial constraints,” Obbo said
She urged women and girls in Lamu to embrace education as it’s the most definite guarantee for empowerment on all fronts.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
