A PLANNED VISIT by Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin to an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya has been pulled from his schedule due to security concerns amid a number of murders in the area. 

The Tánaiste is visiting Nairobi for two days this week before departing to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia later today. 

He was scheduled to visit an Irish-funded health project in Mukuru this morning, but the trip was cancelled after the dismembered bodies of 10 murdered women were found in a quarry a short distance from the health centre last Friday. 

“That such an atrocity, multiple atrocities, could have occurred close to that is quite shocking,” the Tánaiste told reporters in Nairobi.

Yesterday, a man confessed to murdering and dismembering 42 women in the area over a two year period since 2022, including his own wife. 

“We have to await further details and background to this, but it’s quite shocking. One of the strongest contributions we make through our development humanitarian aid is to support women and young girls in particular,” the Tánaiste said.

People watch from the edge of a quarry where human remains were found in Mukuru, Nairobi. Alamy Alamy

He said one of the reasons he was planning to visit the Mukuru health centre, which was established by the Medical Missionaries of Mary and is funded and supported by Ireland, was to see the support that is provided to women and girls in the area.

While there, the Tánaiste was due to meet with local clients and staff, including Medical Missionary nuns who run the clinic. 

“There are obviously security challenges here as there are elsewhere but we must keep on working and supporting the efforts to improve the situation all around,” he said.

“I’ve read extensively on the entire region. Women suffer the most in conflict and in all the wars in Ethiopia and Sudan, through rape, sexual assault, attacks.

“Women’s peace and security has been the theme of Ireland’s positions and contributions on the United Nations Security Council and the General Assembly in terms of our development and humanitarian aid and will remain so,” he added. 

Murders

On Monday, Collins Jumaisi Khalusha, 33, was arrested following the discovery of 10 mutilated women’s bodies. 

A police request for him to be held for 30 days to enable them to complete their probe was approved yesterday.

The bodies were discovered in a disused quarry just 100 metres from a police station.

The officers there have been transferred to ensure an unbiased investigation, acting national police chief Douglas Kanja said.

Khalusha’s home is also located approximately 100 metres from the crime scene.

Many in Kenya have questioned how 42 women could have been murdered in two years, with a spotlight now cast on the Kenyan police. 

Kenya’s police watchdog, the Independent Police Oversight Authority, said on Friday it was looking into whether there was any police involvement or a “failure to act to prevent” the killings.

Kenyan police are often accused by rights groups of carrying out unlawful killings or running hit squads, but few have faced justice.

The murders add more pressure on Kenyan President William Ruto, who is already confronting a crisis over cost-of-living protests that saw dozens of demonstrators killed and officers accused of using excessive force.

Micheál Martin met with President Ruto yesterday morning. He told media afterwards that he raised human rights concerns with the leader.  

 Jane Matthews reporting from Nairobi. Contains reporting from AFP.