CS Kuria Announces Gov't Action after Femicide Cases in Nairobi

Public Service Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria is the first ranking state official to address the worrying trend of femicides in the country.

Lately, a host of women have died in short-term rental and other spaces while in the company of people they had earlier befriended.

Kuria said the government was disturbed by the trend and was taking measures to avert the crisis.

"The government is very concerned about growing cases of crime and murders, mostly targeted at women in short-term rental spaces," he said on X (formerly Twitter).

The CS further observed that part of the problem was the providers of the accommodation services failing to conform with regulations.

According to him, there has never been a directory keeping the details of the customers on the rental spaces thus making it easy for them to walk away after heinous perpetrations.

Kuria said the government had embarked on aligning the sector and dealing with those offering accommodation services without observing the safety and regulatory measures.

"Whereas most of these spaces are termed as AirBNB, they are not transacted through the AirBNB platform and thus there is no Know Your Customer (KYC) data collected, obviously a major security exposure. The government will crack down on people offering such services outside the Airbnb or other authorised and licensed platforms," he said.

This came a day after women activists across the country partook in protests to decry the cases of femicide.

Within January 2024, a handful of women died in mysterious circumstances, raising concern among Kenyans.

For instance, on January 3, a Nairobi socialite named Starlet Wahu was stabbed to death by a man she had booked herself with into a short-term rental house.

Later on January 13, a 20-year-old lady, Rita Waeni, was brutally murdered and her body severed before being stuffed in garbage bags.

In Lang'ata, another woman named Nelvin Museti allegedly jumped to her death,with preliminary investigations linking a male GSU officer with the death.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga was among the national leaders who expressed their concern with the cases.

Raila called on the state law enforcement bodies to act.

"Murder is and will always be wrong, and there is no excuse. The ugly scourge of murder of women is now a national emergency. It is a threat to homeland security. It must come to an end," he said.

All the cases are the subject of police investigations.