MISSED DEADLINE ON SUBMISSION OF CABINET MEMO TO END FEMICIDE

OPEN LETTER

Hon. Hanna Cheptumo,

The Cabinet Secretary,

Ministry of Gender, Culture, the Arts and Heritage         

Maktaba Kuu Building, 5^th Floor, Nairobi

Nairobi, 27 February 2026

Hon. Cabinet Secretary,

RE: MISSED DEADLINE ON SUBMISSION OF CABINET MEMO TO END FEMICIDE

Wednesday marked the end of the thirty-day deadline set by President William Ruto to your office to present a Memorandum to the Cabinet for the implementation of the Gender Based Violence Taskforce report headed by Hon. Nancy Baraza. We urge your office and that of other Cabinet Secretaries to prioritise this instrument and operationalize the national emergency strategy to reduce the spike in femicide cases. We note that it has been seven months since the report was presented to Deputy President Kithure Kindiki.

Earlier this month, Odipo Dev, Africa Uncensored, and Africa Data Hub released their report “Counting The Cost: A decade of femicide in Kenya (2016-2025). Their findings reinforce the findings of the Technical Working Group on GBV. Homes remain the most dangerous spaces for women, with over 70% of femicides committed at home, and intimate partners being the worst perpetrators. Most women are stabbed (23%) or strangled (9%) to death. Response times by police, prosecutors, and the judiciary remain woefully inadequate, and cases take on average four years to conclude in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kiambu, Garissa, and Kericho.  The national crisis does not only affect women and girls as the horrendous attack on Umoja resident Steve Godia, who was scalded by his girlfriend and suffered severe burns, demonstrates.

In this context and given the urgency of the findings and recommendations in the GBV Working Group, the nation urges you to prioritise the responsibility bestowed on you by your appointing authority and the people of Kenya and submit the memorandum to the Cabinet without further delay.

We expect that your memorandum will carry forward the recommendations in the report. Specifically;

1. The Executive Office of the President urgently declare femicide a national crisis, as this affects more than half of Kenya’s population. 
2. National and County Governments mainstream gender responsive budgeting and programming.  
3. Encourage the National Assembly to undertake law reform to specifically recognize femicide as a standalone offence in the Penal Code and amend other relevant laws to enhance predictability and consistency in the prosecution of femicide cases.
4. Support for the Judiciary to expedite existing femicide and GBV cases and desist from lowering sentences for husband perpetrators. If wives are not safe, their children are not either.
5. Public funding for public awareness campaigns that encourages GBV reporting and violence avoidance to settle disputes, and the respect and dignity of all people and women in their diversity. 

Signed