Murdered women's rights and land rights defender Elizabeth Ekaru was buried on Saturday in Lodwar, Turkana county.
Ekaru, who was also a peace champion, was killed on January 3 in Isiolo.
The mother of six was laid to rest at her father’s place in Nakwamekwi village.
Leaders from the region, led by Loima MP Jeremiah Lomurkai, urged security agencies to speed up investigations and arrest the perpetrators.
“We urge the government to look into this issue. It should be treated as an emergency for her family to get justice,” he said.
“This is the same way we lost the husband of the deceased. This means there is a team plotting to maim this family and action must be taken.”
Ikal Angelei, an environmental activist in Turkana county, said many women have lost their land and some have been killed.
“Ekaru wasn’t fighting for her own rights but she was fighting for the rights of the community and that’s why she was killed,” she said.
Angelei warned people to desist from using money to forcibly take land from others.
Last week, Turkana human rights defenders, led by Joseph Egelan, marched along the streets of Lodwar to protest against the killing Ekaru.
Alice Karori, a women’s rights defender, said, “We marched to the Isiolo county commissioner’s office where we presented our petition against the killing of Elizabeth and other women who died through femicide.”
On Tuesday last week, Women Human Rights Defenders, civil society organisations, Social Justice Movements and Feminist Movement in Kenya also held a peaceful procession along the major streets of Kisumu to protest against Ekaru's killing.
The group, led by Caren Wambui Kiarie, later handed over a petition to the county commissioner.
The petition addressed to the Office of the President was copied to the Inspector General of police, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the Office of the Chief Justice.
Others are the Ministry of Public Service Youth and Gender Affairs, the National Gender and Equality Commission, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, the Kenya Women Parliamentary Association and the Council of Governors.
In their petition, they said the murder of Ekaru brings to the fore the pervasive nature of patriarchy, systematic structures that work against women and girls and violence against women and girls in Kenya.
They said her death is a true testimony of the risks, challenges and threats women human rights defenders continue to face.
“Elizabeth’s death reminds us of the many femicide cases whose perpetrators are yet to be brought to book,” the petition read.
Edited by A.N
