Representative Esther Passaris, a woman from Nairobi, has spoken out after there were hostile moments during the anti-femicide demonstrations on Saturday, January 27, 2024, in Nairobi.
In response to more criticism on social media, Passaris claimed that she was the punching bag available and that the audience was jeering her to settle political scores.
"I was booed because I was the available punching bag to let out frustrations and to settle political scores. Not because “you did little too late”. I have been on a planning wall with CSOs for the Femicide March from inception," Passaris said.
She went on to say that her team stood up to be counted and that she finished the march despite the hostility.
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Videos posted on X on Saturday revealed the lawmaker surrounded by a group of angry demonstrators who seemed to boo her, shut her down, and push her away while chanting and brandishing signs.
Passaris later addressed the media while crying visibly and pleaded with President William Ruto to listen to the families of the slain.
"I have spoken to a few CSs and said that the President's voice needs to be heard on this. I'm proud that our party leader Raila Odinga spoke about it two weeks ago. We need the President to speak to it and understand that the family's of these women who have been brutally murdered have got so much trauma," she said.
The horrific killings of women were what started the protest. In Nairobi's Roysambu neighborhood, the most recent killings were that of 26-year-old Starlet Wahu in a short-term rental apartment and Rita Waeni, a first-year college student, whose dismembered body was discovered in another short-term rental apartment.
