Embu County to enact law in fight against FGM

The County Assembly of Embu will soon enact an anti-Female Genital Mutilation law in a bid to curb cases of the female genital mutilation on school going children that have since become rampant in the area.

Led by the Chairperson Gender, Culture, Children’s and Social Services Committee nominated MCA Sicily Warue, the Ward Reps said the outlawed practice was still in operation due to what they cited as lack of a county law and stringent penalties that can be enforced by the County Government.

Speaking at the Embu Level Five Hospital where they visited the seven girls from Mavuria Ward who rescued after undergoing the cut, Warue said her committee was in the process of drafting the legislation which will prescribe stiff penalties to traditional female circumcisers.

Warue further added that their male counterparts in the assembly had also pledged to rally behind them to ensure the bill which is still in the draft stage would pass.

Warue’s sentiments were echoed by nominated MCA Elizabeth Kibai who also urged the national government to work with the County Government in a bid to end the outdated practice.

Kibai further challenged the clergy to be at the forefront in the fight against the vice saying it will take collective effort from all societal stakeholders to end the practice.

The leaders acknowledged that Embu County had in the past recorded several cases of FGM but the practice had not been effectively eliminated due to lack of proper mechanisms to hunt down and prosecute circumcisers.

The MCAs now pledge to expedite the process in order to entrench the anti-FGM crusade into law, hence providing a legal framework for the prosecution of circumcisers.

Additional reporting by Faith Cheptile