Actress Kate Kamau, OGW, or as she is popularly known online, Kate Actress is participating in an End Femicide march in Nyeri.
Speaking at the protest, Kamau said she had felt it was her responsibility as a woman, a mother and as a public figure whose majority of followers are women.
“The reason why we started this march, I feel as a woman and entertainer as someone who holds a position in society I have a responsibility to protect women. The majority of my following are women. The people who have supported me through and through are women.
“I am a mother, I am a woman and I have a right to life. My sisters have a right to life.
“I have a responsibility to protect and speak against any form of violation of their rights, that’s why I’ve decided to come and join them today,” she said.
The Nyeri march is just one of the planned marches set to take place around the country on Saturday, January 27, under the call to action campaign dubbed #TotalShutdownKE in protest of the multiple cases of femicide reported over the past month.
Fervour for the protests began building when reports of Rita Waeni’s murder emerged online. Waeni’s body was discovered on Sunday, January 21 in an apartment on Thika Road Mall (TRM) Drive. She was dismembered and her remains were stuffed into a plastic bag.
The protests have been organised by Usikimye, a non-profit dedicated to eradicating sexual and gender-based violence, Feminists in Kenya and the Zamara Foundation.
In a statement released earlier this week, the three organisations said they were tired of the normalised instances of femicide in the country.
“Being a woman should not be a death sentence!
“We are tired of the dehumanization that permeates our existence, the tragically normalized occurrences of femicide, and the pervasive victim-blaming rhetoric surrounding violence against women and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV).
“ (we) call on all Kenyan women, allies, civil society organizations, and government leaders to join us in a united front,” the statement read.
The protests will officially begin at 10 am on January 27 at the Jeevanjee Gardens.
