Why #IShallNotForget

“Mummy Pam, you cannot ignore this, you just can’t…” This was a desperate midnight inbox from a young woman I had only known through Facebook (FB). She had, in the past few months, shared personal details of her childhood – an orphan, who would cry herself to sleep after episodes of assault by aunts, molestation by an uncle, rape by a neighbour and another later in life by a medical doctor.

A young woman who despite all, worked hard at school to get a tertiary education with the sole aim of escaping the home abuse.  But as fate would have it, she is back home, with the very same circle of abusers because her degree has not earned her employment to move out. At that point, having just taken the much-needed leave, and away from the newsroom, I was still confused with the little details of the issue in Sebina village.  So I left the warm comforts of my bed, went to the living room and started reading. There I found horror stories and outbursts, mainly accusations and counter-accusations from FB political activists.  It troubled me that possible molestation and teenage pregnancy by a civic leader, was being reduced to political point scoring.