The spiral causes of early deaths: and ways in which they can be curbed

Murder cases have in the recent past flooded the local dailies like never before. The Kenyan courts are filled with murder reports, jails with a bunch of murder suspects and criminals, and the streets with the few “able individuals” who are also connected to the cases in one way or another but freely carrying on with their lives as if nothing ever happened.

Police records reveals fast rising homicide cases which is an indication of a violent society with women being the most targeted group. Reports indicate that femicide cases have been on the rise and men have been charged as the main perpetrators .According to statistics it is estimated that at least forty women are feared dead between Jan 1st 2019 and April 31st ,2019 and there could more cases that never hit the headline. Students in institutions of higher learning being victims in most cases. Young brilliant minds such as the late Moi University student Ivy Wangechi ,the late Rongo university student Sharon Otieno,late Kisii university student, the late Egerton university student just mention but a few were murdered in rather mysterious circumstances.

In most cases, reports have indicated that the killings are results of crimes of passion (love gone sour). Some of the suspects have ongoing court cases while others remain a mystery. For many years ,most cases have been under investigation by the directorate of criminal investigations for eternity with no tangible evidences to help in the road to justice for the victim’s leading to some suspects being released on bails while others going scot free while the families of the victims are struggling to come to terms with the untimely demise of their loved ones.

Experts blame the spiraling trend of violence to moral decay, drug and alcohol abuse, depression among young people and poor parenting.

The murder trends are sparking off debates at work, in homes, on social media platforms and social places about the state of Kenyan society. Individually have been pointing blames at another especially between opposite genders. In many debates ladies have been described as “money addicts” who can go to any extend for money thus leading to their untimely deaths whereas men said to be the victims of failed love triangles not forgetting the rich old men best known as “sponsors” being pictured as the main sources of love with money conflicts.

The big question here should be, how can we stop all these killings from never repeating? Given a thought, I believe we will all agree that we have been busy seeking solutions in wrong the directions while the solutions lies within us, with us. The force driving the offender into butchering the victims has long been in our minds, thoughts, cultivated and only awaited the right time to strike.
Giving gifts as a sign of love is not news. It is a norm that has existed since our forefathers. Gifts such as bead chains, cattle, cereals and potteries were given to the loved ones in the ancient time and just like today those gifts were expensive and valuable like the cars, money and jewelries offered in modern relationships.

Relationships also failed in the past. Sons and daughters were forced by either parents or circumstances into marrying the unintended partners who were either considered wealthier or more responsible than the ones they could choose to be with given a choice.

Despite all these challenges, men never committed suicides, messed up their future let alone killing the partners.

It is that time we went back to our roots, our culture and our African ways of life. It is that time we revived the solidarity in the society. And embraced the communal ways of bringing up of our sons and daughters.

It is time we stopped letting westernized action and romance fiction movies to over crowd our thinking. It is time we stood for the well-being of our women, our girls, our sons and the society at large.
Let us keep in mind that security starts with you and me.
By Betty Kitui