Stop harassing men over property, Kiambu women told

Life for men living in Kabete and Kikuyu sub-counties of Kiambu County has become a living nightmare as some women collude with their children to punish them.

In some extreme cases, some men have been killed due to land-related disputes.

This was revealed by Kikuyu/Kabete Deputy County Commissioner Elias Kithaura.

Mr Kithaura urged women and children to stop punishing men and even killing them while there were many ways of handling disagreements in homes.

He urged families to adopt other peaceful means of resolving disputes such as village peace committees, meetings with chiefs and consulting church elders instead of punishing men by not giving them food, not washing their clothes and abusing and disrespecting them.

FEUDS OVER LAND, WEALTH

Mr Kithaura said his office had received numerous reports of men allegedly killed or living in deplorable conditions in their own homes, a situation caused by their wives and children because of feuds over wealth or land.

He told of a recent case in which a mother and her children are suspected to have slashed their father to death and dumped the body in Thogoto forest in Kikuyu.

Investigations revealed that the man was apparently killed because he refused to subdivide the family land, he added.

“Why should you kill your father and husband because of land? I understand land in Kabete and Kikuyu is a prime resource, and attracts millions of shillings when sold but still this is not reason to shed blood or punish men,” said Mr Kithaura.

He was speaking during the annual celebrations for the elderly organised by Naitare County Empowerment Group in Kikuyu Town, where the elderly received food items and underwent medical check-ups.

CASH FOR ELDERLY

Commissioner Kithaura said only 1,175 elderly people in Kikuyu and Kabete aged 65 years and over benefit from the government cash transfer programme while the estimated population of the elderly in the area is about 10,000. He appealed for a higher allocation for the area in the next financial year.

During the function, Aga Khan Hospital offered free medical services to the elderly.

Duncan Njoroge of the Naitare County Empowerment Group appealed to the youth to help the elderly when they get employed. He also urged them to hire caregivers for their elderly relatives.

Mr Njoroge said it was unfortunate that the youth were forgetting their parents who brought them up during hard economic times, adding that most old people were leading lonely lives with little to eat.

“The youth should help the elderly from their home villages regardless of whether they are their relatives or not. Let us not just wait for the government to help, we can also do something,” said Mr Njoroge.