Samburu granny charged with subjecting child to FGM
Natitae Leletia (centre) when she appeared before Maralal Law Courts on Wednesday 15, 2023. She is accused of subjecting her granddaughter to female genital mutilation.
An elderly woman was on Wednesday arraigned before a Maralal Court and charged with subjecting her granddaughter to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
Natitae Leletia was accused of performing the illegal act with others not before court on November 3, 2023 at Lmisigiyoi village, in Samburu Central.
She denied the charge before Maralal Principal Magistrate James Wanyanga.
The prosecution opposed Leletia's release on bond saying being related to the victim, she was likely to interfere with the investigations.
The court heard police were still pursuing other suspects who are still at large.
The victim is recuperating at a hospital in Suguta Mar Mar area.
Acting on a tip-off from members of the public, police proceeded to arrest the suspect.
The court ordered police to continue detaining the suspect for seven days, awaiting a probation report, for a ruling on whether to release her bond or not.
As millions of girls in other parts of the country enjoy the long break from school, most of their counterparts in Samburu County will be living on tenterhooks, not knowing whether they will come out of the annual circumcision season unscathed.
This is the case every December, when initiations are carried out around Christmas time.
But human rights activists have vowed to ensure the script is different this time round.
Anti-FGM campaigner Bernadette Loloju said her agency has embarked on an awareness campaign against female cut and early marriages in Samburu and other hotspot counties.
“We have embarked on several activities during these months (of November and December).
We also have the County Anti-FGM steering committee doing lots of awareness creation through partners and the county government,” Ms Loloju told Nation.Africa.
Activists have also taken the war against FGM to the digital space. They have created a mobile application christened “Pasha”, which will be used to report and track cases anonymously.
The app can be downloaded from Google Play store. Users will be able to anonymously blow the whistle on perpetrators and the authorities will track and arrest them.
Despite the legislative and policy measures put in place to prohibit the practice of FGM, it continues as some communities believe it is necessary for social acceptance and increases marriage prospects.
According to the latest Kenya National Bureau of Statistics report released in July, Samburu County leads in teenage pregnancies at 50 per cent followed by West Pokot (36 per cent) and Marsabit (29 per cent).
“Samburu, West Pokot, Marsabit and Narok counties have the highest percentages of women aged 15 to 19 who have ever been pregnant,” the report says.
Teenage girls lose their virginity at an early age (15.6 years) in Samburu. The pastoral county is closely followed by West Pokot (15.7 years), Kericho (15.8 years), Migori (15.8 years) and Nyamira (15.9 years). Others include Siaya (16.0 years), Narok (16.0 years) and Kisumu (16.1 years).
