Let’s work together to end killings of women

Within just two weeks into the new year, the media in Uganda has been awash with stories about the killings or torture of several women, some in domestic violence-related circumstances.
On January 8, this newspaper reported that police recovered bodies of two murdered girls in a house in Kakeeka near Royal Institute in Mengo, a Kampala suburb.
On January 9, this newspaper again that the authorities in Rubaga Division, Kampala, were hunting a man accused of severely cutting his wife’s left hand with a machete.
The wife reportedly refused to give him money for gambling. The other story was that police in Agago District in northern were hunting a 27-year-old man, who is accused of killing his wife in a domestic scuffle. Another newspaper on January 7, reported that a man in Malongo Sub-county, Mayuge District, beat his daughter to death for allegedly spending a night away from home.
These shocking cases and the circumstances under which they occurred besides others that may not have been captured by the media, point to a self-destruction mode that is going on in this country unabated. We are not only losing valuable lives, but also the whole country gets hurt as a result.
Yet rights activists, government, religious leaders and all well-meaning citizens have always made the clarion call to couples, parents, children, and all members in our society to respect the sanctity of life. These senseless killings, especially based on gender should have no place in this day and age.
Therefore, it is imperative that the concerned authorities, NGOs, agencies, and related institutions should go on overdrive and ensure that obnoxious practices that often end up in loss of lives or hurting any individual with impunity is curtailed.
There is urgent need to empower families in order to scale down domestic violence. Communities should also be sensisitised on the need to live in harmony for their greater good. A peaceful people have high a chance of being productive, which is a key factor in improving people’s living standard.
It is also critical that government rolls out effective national programmes to fight poverty beginning with the households. It is evident that a major spark of domestic violence is poverty. The latest State of Uganda Population Report 2018 shows that more Ugandans have become poorer in the last five years.
Importantly, we should all work together to fight all forms of violence in society, including eliminating gender-based violence in our country.