Rape Culture In Kenya: The Madness of Some Kenyan Men

Is Kenya slowly embracing a raping culture and accepting it as part of life? Have some Kenyan men reached a point of raping minors and even posting pictures online and bragging about it? What went wrong? Are Kenyan laws becoming useless when it comes to matters of rape?

For some time now, I have watched with sadness as some Kenyan men take sexual advantage of the female gender and then shamelessly bragging about it online. Some have even become famous like one Mugo Wa Wairimu, a doctor who was caught on video raping his patients. The man became so famous thereafter that he wants to vie as a member of parliament. The man was arrested, yes, and then released by the court on a cash bail of five million. The matter is still before the court though.

On Monday, a pedophile by the name Mohammed Alfayo on Facebook, slept with a standard four pupil in the bush and then posted the pictures on his Facebook page bragging about it. And I wonder; really? A fully-grown adult man sleeping with a minor then posting the pictures online to brag on how he is the manliest man’? Kenyans on Twitter or KOT as they are famously known took the war online calling for the arrest and prosecution of the lunatic in the name of Mohammed Alfayo. Kenyan police finally arrested the guy and detained him at Sotik Police Station.

On the same day, another rapist in the name of Ng’ang’a is said to have raped and sodomised his 17-year old house girl. The goon is still walking out there, smoking shisha and perhaps bragging on what he did.

I am sure we have not forgotten the Busia incident where a 16-year-old girl was gang-raped, beaten, killed and her body thrown in a pit. What was more sad was that the six men who had committed the offense were only asked to do some slashing and then released to go back (maybe to do some more raping?). It took the effort of Kenyans and the international community for the goons to be arrested and charged in court.

In Bungoma County, in 2014, in a village called Wekelekha, a woman and her three daughters were raped, beaten and then murdered in cold blood. Some termed the killing a ritual and tried to justify the hullabaloo by pointing out the ‘systematic’ marks on the necks of the victims.

Three Members of County Assembly from Kisii were caught with three underage girls in their cars. The Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaiseri said that the police were aware of the incident. What is more shocking is that the MCAs were ordered to apologize OR face arrest. The men might have refused to apologize because they were arrested the same day. The men should be arrested, prosecuted and jailed preferably on the same day. The issue of saying that the police are investigating is now weightless. What kind of investigation are the police doing when everything is plain to see with some cases even including video evidence?

In most parts of Kenya, raping is so common as to be part of the order of the day. In Mount Elgon for instance, raping of underage girls and even impregnating them goes on a daily basis. During the month of March this year, 20 girls from Chelebei Secondary School in Kopsiro division, Mt Elgon Constituency were found pregnant. Can you imagine? 20 girls? From the same school? From the same division? From the same constituency? Seriously? Really?

What is driving the rape culture in Mt. Elgon is the outdated and illegal practice of Female Genital Mutilation or FGM as it is commonly known. FGM is still practiced in Mt. Elgon. The leaders in this region are busy living in denial. They say that things are okay. That people are leaving in peace and harmony but they’re not addressing the plight that the girl child is going through. They don’t want to be seen as going against the established standards of “their people” which might “deny them votes” when the elections come. In Maasai land, early marriage is not something to question. The practice, coupled with FGM still goes on despite the efforts to do away with it.

Girls in the slums are not safe. Rape cases are witnessed on a daily basis. Where is the society heading to? Where are the real men? Real men who used to search for reciprocated love from mature partners? Where have these sex addicts who will use anything to empty their groins come from? Something needs to be done and it needs to be done fast.