Peace ambassadors: Bungoma women's group leads efforts against violence
Members of the Bungoma Peace Network during one of their meetings to resolve a conflict in Msikoma location. These peace ambassadors resolve conflicts at the family and community levels.
What you need to know:
- The 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey says Bungoma leads in the number of women who have suffered physical and sexual violence.
- The survey indicates that 62 per cent of women and girls who have experienced physical violence are from Bungoma.
- The county also recorded the highest number of women who have experienced sexual violence at 30 per cent.
Catherine Naliaka from Kabuchai, Bungoma, vividly recalls how she was severely beaten by her husband in December 2022 just a few days before Christmas festivities.
Her husband, she says, got angry after returning home and finding that she had not taken his torn shoes to a cobbler as he had instructed in the morning before leaving for work.
Her explanations fell on deaf ears and were only met with blows and kicks. She suffered injuries, which, among other scars, left her with a red eye.
Also read: Report: Domestic violence rampant in Africa
“I tried to explain that our daughter, then nine months old, had suddenly experienced a severe fever during the day and I had to rush her to hospital. This was just as I prepared to take his shoes to a cobbler.
“I, however, thought saving the child’s life was a priority. At the hospital, I found a long queue, and thus returned home late,” Catherine tells Nation.Africa.
It did not take long before locals got wind of her predicament. Among those who intervened was a group of women known for spearheading conflict resolution efforts in the region.
“They came home to visit me and enquired about what had led to my being beaten up. I explained to them and they sympathised. They later organised a reconciliation meeting and made my husband realise his mistake. He apologised and vowed never to beat me again,” she recounts.
Hers is one of the cases in Bungoma and Vihiga that show how crucial this group of women has been in conflict resolution. Inter-clan conflicts and domestic disputes are prevalent in the two counties.
Women as decisionmakers
As peace ambassadors, these women, under the Bungoma Peace Network, restore calm in the community from the family level. Their work is, however, not limited to Bungoma. They also take their campaigns to Vihiga.
Flaria Mutenyo, the chairperson, says they formed the group after realising how women were being sidelined in peacebuilding and conflict resolution, despite being victims.
“Our work is to ensure peace by solving conflicts at the family level. We also participate in peace crusades where we usually preach the importance of peace,” she says.
Ms Mutenyo adds that they use public forums to promote measures that prevent conflicts and gender-based violence (GBV).
“Our initiative has borne fruit as there was no post-election violence in Mount Elgon as had been the case in the past. Women definitely know which button to press to bring peace into their families and communities.”
She attributes frequent family and community conflicts to greed, disrespect, negative ethnicity, scramble for resources, poverty and high unemployment.
Ms Mutenyo says to be more effective, they have formed sub-county and location committees.
Her husband, Geoffrey Mukula, says he is happy with what she has achieved as peace ambassador.
“I have been supporting her financially to do her work, and praying for her. I urge other men to support their women who are participating in peace initiatives.”
Mr Mukula further urges men to shun violence and instead cultivate a close relationship with their wives, children and neighbours.
Monthly barazas
Every month, the group holds at least one public forum to reconcile warring parties, including couples.
In their fight against GBV, they use numerous campaigns that target men and elders. They say the problem is largely due to patriarchy.
According to the 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, Bungoma leads in the number of women who have experienced physical and sexual violence.
The survey indicates that 62 per cent of women and girls who have experienced physical violence are from Bungoma. The county also recorded the highest number of women who have experienced sexual violence at 30 per cent.
The peace committees in these two counties have won accolades for reducing conflicts.
Christian Wasike, the assistant chief of Msikoma, is also a peace actor.
She says peacebuilding is her passion, adding that being a peace ambassador has helped her become more confident.
The administrator notes that they deal with a lot of divorce cases due to high poverty levels.
To minimise family conflicts, Ms Wasike says they train women in how to become economically empowered to help them share family responsibilities with men.
Need for empowerment
Valentine Mutaki from Kabuchai tells Nation.Africa that inadequate women’s economic empowerment is a major source of conflict in the community.
“Many women are not economically empowered thus have limited money and that becomes a source of conflict in families.”
Beatrice Otuma, a peace actor in Luanda, has been counselling widows who are GBV survivors.
Also read: Women bear the brunt of conflict
Ms Otuma has also been at the forefront of enlightening women and men on peaceful co-existence and its importance.
“We have been holding barazas at the local level to create awareness of the importance of peace, which has helped to bring the cases down,” Ms Otuma tells Nation.Africa.
She blames alcoholism, drug and substance abuse, high unemployment and land ownership for the high cases of conflicts in the area.
Betty Okero, the team leader at the Civil Society Organisation Network, is happy that more women are involved in peace initiatives. She says that they also fight patriarchy.
Bungoma and Vihiga have been prone to inter-ethnic clashes more so during elections.
During attacks, residents, especially women and children, are maimed and killed with machetes, clubs, and axes. In the process, some women and girls are sexually abused.
Genital mutilation
Many of these conflicts have been blamed on incitement by politicians. The women, through their peace caucus, have also been at the forefront of fighting female genital mutilation (FGM).
They were part of state and non-state actors who recently convinced the Sabaot elders in Mount Elgon to condemn FGM in the community.
Mount Elgon is an FGM hotspot, with thousands of girls having been cut and many others at risk of been subjected to the harmful practice.
The women currently work closely with the elders and other stakeholders to come up with a roadmap towards a historic denunciation of FGM as a cultural rite.
They say harmful practices have caused untold suffering to the community and hampered their socioeconomic development.
