Kilifi, KENYA: A 15-year-old girl has died three months after allegedly being defiled by a 58-year-old pastor in Jaribuni-Ganze sub-county.
The late Lansa Nzalambi was a class five pupil at Dunguni primary school.
It is alleged that Pastor Lenga Jeno Lenga of Agape church in Mbudzi defiled the late Nzalambi in his house on September 13, 2017.
Lenga however pleaded not guilty and is out on sh. 100, 000 bond and the case is due for hearing on January 9, 2018.
The deceased complained of a severe headache and her mother advised her to seek spiritual intervention from the accused, and that’s when all that is said to have happened.
Speaking during the burial of the late Nzalambi, family spokesperson Bozivel Bambanya called for justice for the girl.
“We knew the girl had been defiled through her teacher who needed to know why her school attendance had deteriorated abruptly,” Bambanya said.
“She told the teacher that she had been defiled and the pastor vowed to to kill her should she tell anyone and that’s why she decided to suffer in secret,” he added.
Sauti ya Wanawake Chairlady, Judith Uchi has called upon the government to investigate all the churches if they are involved in such practices.
According to Uchi, KilIfi has witnessed mushrooming of churches which have been noted to be encouraging immorality in the society, citing a case in Ganze where a pastor was presiding over marriage of a 16-year- old girl.
In Malindi, a pastor had taken hostage of children and had stopped them from going to school.
“The trend is worrying and more churches are coming up every day. The Government should come out clear and tell us what is happening in this churches,” said Uchi.
Last week, Fimbo Youth Initiative with support from Action Aid held a peaceful demonstration in the streets of Kilifi town calling for spirited efforts among leaders to end child abuse and early pregnancies in the region.
They asked the County assembly to pass laws that would assist in curbing the vice.
Eve Mvera , the founder of the initiative said they are concerned about the increasing numbers of child abuse in the County while little was being done to address the crisis.
“In 2015 alone, we had 334 cases, and only 63 cases were concluded by the court and as a result we believe that a lot still has be done especially at the assembly where our MCAs need to come up with county legislations that will seal the loopholes that have encouraged the abuse we are witnessing,” said Mvera.
Mvera said they fear that the cases of defilement and child pregnancy are going to be high in the festive season, if nothing is done to curb the menace.
“The Kilifi County Gender Based Recovery Centre have 337 cases of child abuse were reported between January and November 2017. This is alarming and the community must be sensitized.” Concluded Mvera.
