Samburu elders lead fight against FGM

More than 300 elders from Samburu Central Sub-County are pledging to lead their community against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) after a public forum organised by a local NGO.

Even after the practice was outlawed, the elders say that the community has been carrying out FGM ignorant of the harm it causes and the reasons why it was outlawed.

The Canadian High Commissioner, Serah Predenskey, who was the guest of honour, said that the Samburu people needed information pertaining some of their harmful traditional practices.

“I have discovered that FGM is a bad practice in our culture and our children are the main victims. Nobody has ever come here to tell us how bad it is before today,” said Lemirile Arupora, a resident of Lolmolog in Samburu central sub-county.

He added that most people in the region are not aware of the effects of FGM on girls and the society at large, and urged stakeholders involved in anti-FGM efforts to spread their campaigns to remote villages.

Samburu Girl’s Foundation Director Dr Josephine Kulea added that the creation of awareness against FGM in interior villages ought to be taken seriously before the law is fully employed law to end the harmful cultural practice.

“Most of our communities are ignorant. They do not understand the law and it is in these forums that we tell them how FGM is harmful and why the government outlawed the practice,” said Dr Kulea.

Written by Ronald Kibet