Church now attributes soaring crime to neglect of boy child
The Methodist Church of East Africa has raised an alarm over increasing number of domestic violence and murder cases, attributing them to the neglect of the boy child in the Kenyan society.
According to the East Africa Methodist Church President, Bishop Joseph Nthombura, it is high time for relevant government institutions, non-state actors, community and religious organisations, to take up the challenge and urgently devise intervention measures aimed at stemming the unlawful loss of life in families by empowering the boy child.
EMPOWERMENT
Bishop Nthombura, who graced the East African men fellowship on the boy child empowerment, which was attended by more than 2,000 men, said cases of homicides have been attributed to, among other causes, fights over property, drug abuse and infidelity with men often taking the blame for these cases.
“Most of these cases involve spouses killing their partners, or paying criminals large sums of money to kill them, and for all manner of reasons, which if the psychosocial part is followed it’s the men who are to blame since they feel drained up and not worthy in life,” said Bishop Nthombura.
During the event held at Narok Stadium, the men drawn from Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and Kenya played games such as tag-of-war, fellowship competition, volleyball and set pieces all in an effort to raise awareness of men on their role in society.
“Men should be empowered to play their roles as good parents in society and the Methodist church is supporting this regional forum to assist men have a positive attitude towards society,” Bishop Nthombura added.
He also said the move came up after a realization that the boy child has been neglected and focus should be shifted to assist him get back to the right track.
AWARENESS
Reverend Alice Mutuma of the Methodist church in Nyambene said as women are in full support of the program aimed at raising awareness for the boy child in the society. She said men in the Methodist church are prepared and willing to rectify the mistakes that have shocked the society.
She also blamed the Western-like lifestyle for the decay in African values and morals, with a majority of men indulging in heavy drinking, drug abuse and domestic violence.
Mr George Mugambi, the chairman of the men’s fellowship, said there is need to have men mentoring boys during initiation ceremonies.
He noted that the vulnerability of the boy child is greatly affected by negligence of the rights of passage.
“The boys should be mentored at a young age through churches as well as through traditional procedures that still have value in society,” said Mr Mugambi.