Is FGM creeping back in Mount Kenya?
What you need to know:
- In Murang’a County, a 30-year-old woman from Kandara had a few months earlier been rushed to hospital after she was allegedly forced to undergo FGM by her husband.
- The Catholic was the first to raise the red flag when it questioned the activities of some cultural groups in Kiambu.
Ten girls were arrested last week in Giika, Meru County, on suspicion of undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM).
The area chief reported that the arrests were made after a WhatsApp group exposed messages confirming that the girls, aged 10 to 16, had undergone the unlawful cut.
“This has truly shocked us, as we cannot understand why anyone would revert to such a barbaric practice. We have also arrested the woman responsible for performing the procedure," chief Gerevasio Mucheke said.
Assistant chief Anaclate Mutwiri of Marega stated that out of 17 girls, it has been confirmed that 10 were subjected to the procedure. “This is something we have not witnessed in our community for many years," the administrator said.
In April 2022, seven people were arrested and later arraigned in Nyeri for conducting FGM on minors in Mukuruwe-ini.
According to the National Police Service, a joint operation that involved county and national government officers was conducted, resulting in the arrest of the suspects. Seven girls were rescued and later rushed to hospital for medical attention.
In the neighbouring Murang’a County, a 30-year-old woman from Kandara had a few months earlier been rushed to hospital after she was allegedly forced to undergo FGM by her husband.
The woman claimed her husband, who was accompanied by over 30 members of his cult, first performed a ritual by slaughtering a goat, before they subjected her to the cut.
“One member of the cult strangled me as others undressed me and started cutting my genital organ with a knife. I fought them off and screamed for help,” the victim told journalists.
She said the gang had camped in her compound until the wee hours of the night, when her husband led them into her house. The man was later arrested and taken to Kandara police station.
These several FGM episodes have raised the alarm among residents, gender experts and state and non-state actors who are concerned that the vice is creeping back after decades.
There have been fears of a thriving underground female circumcision ring in Central Kenya.
Residents say FGM is still orchestrated by two new religious cults that have become popular in the region and operate underground ceremonies supported by parents who want their daughters to be circumcised.
The Catholic Church was the first to raise the red flag about the possible re-emergence of FGM two years ago. It questioned the activities of some of the cultural groups that were mushrooming in Kiambu and encouraging the practice.
Through a letter signed by the retired John Cardinal Njue cautioned parishioners in the area against joining the groups propagating retrogressive practices such as FGM.
Prior to the letter, Cardinal Njue had formed a committee to investigate the groups operating in the Archdiocese.
“Teachings of these cult-like groups, the investigative team established, include some retrogressive practices such as female circumcision, male chauvinism and subjugation of women,” Njue warned.
The radical cultural groups said to be rampant in Kiambu, Murang’a, Nyeri and Laikipia counties are propagating the circumcision of women to allegedly repay what they call “a debt to their grandmothers (Thiiri wa cucu)”.
Gema Women Council and Kikuyu Council of Elders also came out guns blazing and faulted the cultural groups propagating FGM and called on the government to take stringent measures against them.
The elders, in a statement, said the increased cases of FGM and other forms of gender-based violence (GBV) against girls and women is disturbing and unacceptable.
The group called on the government to mount a massive crackdown to nab members of these sects and ensure the rights of women and girls are protected.
They also called on county governments to ensure all the outdated cultural practices and rites are banned.
“Some cultural groups have emerged in central Kenya and they are propagating abnormal and outdated cultural practices that are out of sync with human development. We say no to them and will not accept them to thrive in our midst,” read the statement.
Anti-FGM chief executive officer Bernadette Loloju told Nation.Africa that Meru is still classified as a high prevalence county but added measures had been put in place to tackle the vice.
Ms Loloju added that central Kenya remains an area where FGM is non-existent but added the presence of some cults with some weird teachings was worrying.
“It will be hard to take back communities and the country where we have come from. We are doing everything possible to ensure we win the war on these outdated cultural practices.”
She added that they are involving men through male engagement to slay FGM in the 22 hotspot counties.
On Monday, the Anti-FGM Board announced it had engaged with the Meru County Commissioner's office in response to the recent media reports on FGM.
“Assistant County Commissioner Betty Kinanda acknowledged the severity of the situation and assured the board of the office's support in the fight against FGM and other forms of SGBV,” the board posted on its Facebook page.
According to Unicef, about four million girls and women in Kenya have undergone FGM. Overall, 21 per cent of girls and women, aged 15 to 49, have been mutilated.
The UN agency adds that over 80 per cent of FGM in Kenya is done by traditional cultures but more and more communities are abandoning the vice as the government tightens the noose.
Kenya banned the practice in 2011, paving the way for the Female Genital Mutilation Act that carries a minimum punishment of three-year imprisonment and a Sh200,000 fine.
Currently, 22 counties are considered FGM hotspots. They include Samburu, Kisii, Nyamira, Narok, Kajiado, West Pokot, Elgeyo Marakwet, Baringo, Isiolo, Tana River, Tharaka Nithi, Taita Taveta, Kwale, Wajir, Mandera and Garissa.
The fight against FGM had gained momentum following the launch of Eradication of FGM Policy in November 2019 by Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, the President at the time.
