Gender Cabinet Secretary nominee Hanna Wendot Cheptumo is under pressure to issue an apology over her comments on femicide victims.
Speaking on Wednesday, April 16, Suna East MP Junet Mohamed called on Cheptumo to issue a formal apology for suggesting that some femicide victims were 'looking for money.'
"Having been a member of the committee that vetted her, Hanna Cheptumo must apologize for the remarks she made about women who die in Airbnbs. Whether you are looking for money or not, you don't deserve to die; death is not an answer to anything," he said.
Junet acknowledged Cheptumo’s qualifications for the position but insisted that her remarks had crossed a line.
“In her qualifications, I have a lot of confidence that she can do the work. But on the remarks she made, she must give a clear statement of apology to the nation and especially the women of Kenya," he added.
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The uproar stems from an exchange during the vetting where Cheptumo was asked about the root causes of femicide in Kenya while appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Appointments.
“Femicide is brought about by dependency. If girls were able to have economic power, they would not depend on either gender. If a woman is educated, chances are that they will avoid some of these challenges in society,” she stated.
However, National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula challenged her assertion, noting, "The girls who have been killed in Airbnbs are in universities, they are educated.”
Cheptumo responded, “They are educated, but those ones are looking for money.”
Her comments were condemned as victim-blaming and dismissive of the serious and complex nature of gender-based violence in the country.
Calls for accountability have since grown on social media and from civil society organizations, demanding that Cheptumo take responsibility for the insensitive nature of her remarks.
"We call her out for spreading misinformation about femicide. Femicide in Kenya is in no way promoted or facilitated by "women pursuing relationships motivated by a desire for money".
"Majority of the cases of femicide in Kenya are promoted, facilitated and perpetrated by men who feel entitled to women, their property, their bodies and their labour and the majority of women are killed by their husbands," EndFemicideKE Movement said in a statement.
