Wangechi Muchiri shines in Ladies' shooting range championship

Wangechi Muchiri emerged as the overall winner at the Pink Target All Ladies Charity Sport Championship at the National Gun Owners Association (NGAO) Kenya Shooting Range in Kirigiti in Kiambu County on Sunday.

In the one-day event held to celebrate women and create more awareness of gender-based violence (GBV), Muchiri topped the list of 68 sports shooters with 99.77 points.

She was closely followed by Elizabeth Cherono (103.32), Silvia Kinya (110.58), Irene Ndunda (127.18), Agatha Muchiri (138.95), Brenda Ajiambo (143.51), Judy Wanja (144.22), Immaculate Jepkosgei (161.88), Elizabeth Wachianga (169.80) and Sharon Langat (170.30) in the top-10 positions, respectively.

The President's Advisor on Women's and Children's Rights, Harriette Chiggai, graced the one-day event.

“We are within the 16 days of activism on matters related to gender-based violence and I'm truly proud of the Pink Target Ladies. Since my office engagement with them, they have been providing support. They raise funds to support social initiatives. Last year, they supported breast cancer initiatives, and did a very good job,” said Chiggai.

This year, Pink Target All Ladies came together to shoot for GBV. “Whatever it is they get they support the victims of gender-based violence. Within this period, the President has already proclaimed himself, the support that he has for women and children in this country,” she noted.

Chiggai said sport was the best platform for creating awareness, advocating, and at the same time, supporting the women in the country.

Professional sports shooters

“I'm truly proud of the champions, and the guys who are shooting here who are trained professional sports shooters. So this is a very good initiative because we also have to showcase what this sport is about,” said Chiggai.

Sports shooting, she said, was not about violence, but the discipline of not being violent. “And that, for me, is a plus because if you look at the last two years, the country has lost several women and children because of violence. And we are here to say no to femicide, no to violence against women and children, and to support the sporting arena to advance the social well-being of people in the country,” explained Chiggai.

She assured that her office would continue working with Pink Target, and added that everybody was welcome in the fight against GBV “because all of us are looking for solutions”.

“For the last year, Kenya has seen a record 97 deaths from gender-based violence. It means every month, there's somebody who's been killed every single day. So we are saying that the acceleration or the rate at which women and young girls are being killed is very high,” said Chiggai, explaining that most GBV cases are done by people considered safe to be with.

The question she says now is how to create safe homes and safe spaces for women and children in the country. “This is why we are saying everybody must participate in finding solutions. I'm truly proud of Kenyans, because when you look around ourselves, the church has a role to play, sports have a role to play, we as a community have a role to play,” she said.

She hailed everyone who had come out to speak about femicide noting that for cases of femicides to reduce in the country, “we have to change the heart of our men”.

Some of the causes of GBV she said were cultural biases and mental health-related issues. She also advised parents to stop outsourcing parenthood to teachers.

“A teacher will not raise your child the way you want. They will raise a child within the school's profound and agreed rules and regulations. So it's a near military camp for most kids, especially those who go to boarding school because the best way to lead a crowd is by setting out rules and regulations and punishments,” she noted.

Chiggai added that there was a need for parents to start loving their children. “We also need to start having children that we can take care of. If you can't take care of 20 children, have one child and be satisfied. And if you can take care of 20, 30, have them but take care of them. Let's not outsource parenting,” emphasized Chiggai. 

Conduct charity

Paula Munyi, the founder and chair lady of Pink Target Ladies Sports Shooting Club, explained that the purpose of the project was to bring women together and then identify causes within the communities that they can support.

“Last year, we had Breast Cancer Awareness Month, where we brought up a shoot. So, we usually use the medium that we know best, which is shooting as a sport. We conduct a charity shoot where people come and support us. We raise money, we identify that particular cause and we support it after the event," said Munyi.

The Pink Target All Ladies Charity Sport Championship supported 16 days of activism on gender-based violence to celebrate the fallen heroes. Agnes Tirop, Damaris Mutua, and Ugandan Rebecca Cheptegei are some of the female athletes who have fallen victim to gender-based violence since 2021.

"We also used the event to create awareness and create a platform where people can come together and at least listen. And we are part of the conversation as well," said Munyi.