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Nyeri leaders demand urgent action over suicide, defilement surge
06th October, 2025 09:21 PM
Caption:GBV and suicide cases surge in Nyeri as officials call for urgent action.VIDEO/K24TV Leaders have called for urgent intervention measures following a surge in suicide and defilement cases in Nyeri County.
The Principal Secretary in the State Department for Gender and Affirmative Action, Anne Wang’ombe, has said that the rising cases of suicide and gender-based violence are alarming and must be addressed urgently.
“Last week alone, I visited this county, and the statistics I received for suicide cases were 101, 77 being men and 24 women. When I came today, just one week later, I was told the cases had increased to 107. In just one week, we have lost six people to suicide,” Wang’ombe said.
Also watch: Suicide crisis leaves families in endless grief
The PS also lamented the rise in defilement and rape cases affecting school-going children and elderly women.
“It is quite alarming that defilement cases are still on the rise. In one month alone, 46 cases of defilement have been reported,” she said.
She noted that the government, together with political leadership, will begin programmes for men in all sub-counties to establish the root cause of the suicide cases.
“We are going to have programs with the political leadership of this county in every sub-county, so that we can have a conversation with our men in particular, just to understand where the issues lie and agree on the way forward,” she added.
On his part, Energy PS Alex Wachira noted that the issues of gender-based violence and suicide can only be addressed by tackling unemployment and eradicating poverty.
“For us to eliminate these cases, we must address the issue of poverty and joblessness. We must have a paradigm shift. In fact, when you hear statistics that a human being, a male, is raping an 88-, 86-, or 76-year-old woman, don’t you see that we have a societal problem?” posed Wachira.
