Anne Waithera was only 35 years By day she served her neighbours as a Community Health Promoter and milk-collection agent; by evening she returned to a rented house near Mathioya River to raise two young children.
Friends knew her as gentle quick to laugh, and proud of the uniform she wore while checking on expectant mothers.
Last Saturday afternoon her body was found on a bushy bank beside the same river. First reports claimed she had ended her own life after falling into debt. Her husband relayed that story to relatives, insisting there would be a quiet burial.
Anne’s elder sister, alarmed by the haste, travelled overnight from Githurai. She discovered the children were terrified of their father, that their mother’s WhatsApp history had been wiped, and that no police file existed.
She demanded an autopsy and a formal statement. The post-mortem, conducted at Murang’a Level V Hospital, revealed fatal blunt-force trauma to the head followed by drowning. The pathologist ruled out suicide.
When the husband’s family arrived yesterday to “negotiate” a swift burial—“tuwache mambo mingi,” they said—Anne’s relatives called gender-rights group Usikimye.
Working past midnight, the advocates secured an urgent court stop-order that halted the planned burial set for tomorrow. Detectives from Kangema Police Station have now opened a murder inquiry.
Anne’s story is the latest in a grim national toll: at least 45 Kenyan women have been killed in gender-based attacks since January 2025, according to the Femicide Count Kenya project (femicideke.org). The presidential Femicide Taskforce begins public hearings next month; survivors and allies are urged to attend and speak.
Being a woman should not be a death sentence. Sign the petition to strengthen domestic-violence enforcement and share Anne Waithera’s name. Justice for her is a step toward safety for every daughter, sister, and mother.
By Kenyans