Narok County Commissioner Isaac Masinde wants parents to protect their children against Gender Based Violence (GBV) as the schools close for the long holiday.
Masinde warned parents who leave their children to relatives or neighbors saying most of these relatives end up molesting their children and introducing them to unethical behaviour that affects the behaviour of children.
He challenged parents to take individual responsibility for their own children to guide and counsel them so that they can be morally upright.
“Some parents do not care about the behaviour of their children. Some children leave their homes very early in the morning and return back late hours of the night yet their parents do not question them,” he noted.
He called on the parents to spend quality time with their children so that the minors can open up and explain the challenges they face in life.
At the same time, Masinde called on non-governmental organizations working in the area to work with the police so that they can protect the minors from being subjected to retrogressive cultural practices like Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and early marriages.
The county commissioner was speaking at his Narok office today where he warned parents with an intention of subjecting their children to illegal practices that they risk arrest and prosecution in a court of law.
“All children should be protected from all forms of harm. No child should feel disadvantaged than another because of being forced into illegal practices,” he added.
Recently, the Anti-FGM board chairperson Mrs Ipato Surum revealed that FGM in the county is 51 per cent above the national average of 15 per cent.
Mrs. Surum called on government institutions, religious leaders and council of elders to work together to bring the number down.
Unlike in the past where FGM was being done in open, the trend has changed and those practicing it do it in hidden places to avoid being arrested by the authorities.
By Ann Salaton
