Trans Nzoia First Lady Visits Kitale Women’s Prison
Trans Nzoia Deputy Governor Philomena Kapkory and county First Lady Lilian Natembeya visited women, and prisoners, at the Kitale prison ahead of the International Women’s Day that will be celebrated tomorrow.
Addressing the women at the facility, Kapkory hailed the womenfolk for their endeavored efforts in advocating for their rights including pushing for affirmative action that has seen women given their space, especially in leadership roles.
She noted that there has been tremendous progress as they seek equality even as she observed that much was still needed for them to reach higher levels that they yearn for to have a level playing field with the male beings.
Citing challenges such as Gender Based Violence (GBV), Early child marriages, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), teen pregnancies, and failure to educate the girl child as contributing factors to inequalities, Kapkory observed that more efforts were required to end such vices.
“When I see women coming together to celebrate with fellow women, more so in the prisons, it gives me happiness as it means we synergies to push ourselves a step forward,” said the deputy governor.
This year’s theme for the celebration is ‘digital innovation and technology for gender equality
Mrs. Kapkory acknowledged the Kitale Main Women prisons for its commitments to promoting the rights of women and girls and for the support to women who are rebuilding their lives after prison.
“We have mobile apps and some digital platforms to help train and mentor young women for them to be entrepreneurs. Such technologies that connect women farmers with information on market prices and weather patterns have enabled women to make informed decisions and improve their income,” said Kapkory.
The D.G hailed women organisations in the county for their efforts in creating awareness on the importance of gender equality reiterating that as the world prepares to mark the day, there was still much to be done.
The Deputy Governor noted that challenges in maternal care and reproductive health as some of the issues still affecting women in the country.
She affirmed the county government’s commitment to improving the lives and the health of women disclosing that the county has an initiative of putting up a child and mother hospital at Tom Mboya in Kitale which will cater to great maternal health and child health in the county.
“The County government recognizes the need to support the women when they come out of prisons through rehabilitation and reintegration to the society,” she pointed out adding that the county administration is committed to using technology as a tool to empower women and is exploring ways to integrate technology into their rehabilitation.
On her part, Mrs. Natembeya said the county through her office is putting up a strategy to ensure that women healthcare services are attained.
She urged women to learn to adjust to one another and not dress down one another adding that when a woman stands to do something she ought to get support from their colleagues.
County Secretary Truphosa Amere noted that as a country, we were yet to break through some of those things and that women were still imprisoned.
She regretted that in this era, girls would not have easy of access to sanitary towels while GBV was still on the rise.
Mrs. Amere added that with the coming together of a women’s fraternity there is light at the end of the tunnel we are glad to announce that we shall be free when we come together dance together and pray together and trust God together there is light at the end of the tunnel.
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