On November 23, I was deeply saddened to learn of the demise of Mary Wairimu Mundothi, a community development officer with Nyandarua county’s Department of Education, Culture and Social Services.
Mundothi was raped and murdered a few metres before arriving at her home near the Nyandarua Institute of Science and Technology in Ol’Jororok subcounty. As we have since learnt, she may have been assaulted on the evening of November 22 as she returned home from a trip to Nairobi.
Over the past few days, I have led my government and family members in mourning her. We finally laid her to rest on December 3. With the national government, we are working to ensure the perpetrators of this heinous act are known and brought to book.
What matters most is that we combine the new acknowledgment of rape’s role in war with a further recognition: humankind’s level of tolerance for sexual violence is not established by international tribunals after war. That baseline is established by societies, in times of peace.
Coming 48 hours before we joined the rest of the world in marking International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and the start of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, Mundothi’s death was a stark invitation for each one of us to continue challenging violence against women and girls across Nyandarua county. The first aspect of this invitation has to do with the personal impact of such moments of grief.
Mundothi was highly respected across all levels of my government. Her 21 years of selfless service included becoming one of our distinguished darts players, whose team emerged fourth countrywide during this year’s Kenya Inter-County Sports and Cultural Association games in Kericho county. In neighbouring Ndaragwa subcounty, where she oversaw the issuance of bursaries, students and parents are yet to come to terms with the transition.
Her dependents have asked the county secretary and head of public service Hiram Kahiro how best they might sustain themselves in the coming years. From our office to the countryside, therefore, desolation over Mundothi’s demise remains real.
The second, and perhaps more urgent aspect of the invitation, has to do with ongoing personal and public responses to the incident. Most people of goodwill across Nyandarua have been asking what it is they can do to turn things around.
Importantly, there is an increasing acknowledgment of sexual violence, the social reality of a declining moral compass and tentative steps to ignite a future in which no woman, child or man has to grapple with gender-based violence.
Until Mundothi’s demise, some residents had been slow in realising that sexual violence destroys not only the victim but communities as well. Now, more than ever, there is an acceptance that sexually violated, women (and men) are often rejected and stigmatised, and in the process lose their stature, relationships, possessions, and (even) life.
As I noted in my inaugural address in August 2017, the Church and our elders must actively accept and proclaim a compelling moral vision as part of their mandate and responsibility. Stellenbosch University’s Lisa Le Roux has helpfully observed: “Cultural perceptions of sex, sexuality, sexual violence, and gender relations have become what the Church preaches and enacts regarding sex, sexuality, sexual violence, and gender relations.”
I, therefore, encourage the Church to actively seek out partnerships and collaborations with the national government, devolved units and non-state actors in their quest to address this scourge most effectively.
I am encouraged by interest groups within Nyandarua that continue to organise around this pressing issue. I am aware that some, such as Seeds of Life, are grappling with a comprehensive reset of the values underlying our broken lives.
Together, let us actively preach, teach and train about and against sexual violence; support survivors; develop and publicly advocate progressive policies within our communities, homes and workplaces; mainstream related content in our curricula; and fearlessly enforce existing legislation against offenders.
We will do well to further heed Le Roux’s counsel: “What matters most is that we combine the new acknowledgment of rape’s role in war with a further recognition: humankind’s level of tolerance for sexual violence is not established by international tribunals after war. That baseline is established by societies, in times of peace.”
Now is the time to establish this baseline.
