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US-based human rights activist Margaret Ruto. PHOTO| POOL
A US-based human rights activist who led the arrest and imprisonment of an American Christian missionary who sexually abused minors at a Kenyan orphanage has won a humanitarian award.
Ms Margaret Ruto, was awarded the National Diversity and Inclusion Awards and Recognition (DIAR) Awards in the Human Rights category at an event held in Nairobi, Kenya, over the weekend.
In an interview with Nairobi News, Ms Ruto said she was honoured to be chosen as the winner.
“I am so honoured to have been selected as the winner in the Human Rights Champions category at the DIAR Awards. I would also like to congratulate the nominees I competed against for the good work they are doing,” said Ms Ruto.
She said she would continue to seek justice and ensure that people are respected and their rights upheld.
Ms Ruto had no choice when she decided to ensure that American Christian missionary Gregory Dow was arrested and jailed for abusing minors. He was sentenced to more than 15 years in federal prison.
She said two girls, aged 12 and 14, even escaped from the orphanage and were able to tell their stories and how they suffered in a place they thought was better than home.
Dow’s Children Home was located in Kapsiratet Boito, Bomet County, Kenya from 2008 to 2017.
Ms Ruto described the accounts of the two girls as harrowing, and what pained her even more was the story of a young boy who was also secretly buried at the orphanage.
Police in Kenya had already begun investigating the matter, but he managed to escape before they could arrest him.
By the time the police arrived at Dow’s Children’s Home on September 14, 2017, the Dows had fled.
Greg Dow had managed to catch a flight from Nairobi to Pennsylvania, a town where Ms Ruto lives in the US.
Meanwhile, his wife Mary Rose was caught in a nearby town, arrested and held without bail for five months for being a flight risk.
Ms Ruto was nominated for the award in November 2023 after a thorough background check of her life.
In January 2024, she accepted the nomination, allowing the DIAR Awards to post her details on their website.
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