More than 20, 000 surgical blades have been procured by the Samburu county government at a cost of Sh300, 000 ahead of a mass circumcision in August 2019.
The blades were later blessed by elders at a private ceremony attended by hundreds of boys and area political leaders.
Area governor Moses Lenolkulal said each blade would be used to circumcise one boy to avoid disease infections.
“We have adopted a “one knife one boy” campaign to make this practice safe in the current era of different diseases,” he said.
He added that traditional circumcisers had been trained on how to use surgical blades, gloves and sterilizers.
On matters of education, the governor said after circumcision, he will work with administrators and members of county assembly to ensure that all boys in the county have resumed their studies in schools.
“For those boys who will be undergoing circumcision we will ensure that they continue with their education because we have a history that after circumcision many boys drop out of school due to moranism,” he said.
Samburu Woman Representative Maison Leshoomo urged police to beef up security in the region during the circumcision period.
“There is high tension in this area, and government officers ought to intensify police patrols to ensure there is adequate security during circumcision period,” she said.
John Lemarkat, an elder said that after the blessing, the knives would be distributed across the county to circumcise boys to reduce spread of disease infections.
“We thank our leaders because they have supplied us with knives to prevent spread of diseases from one boy to the other,” he said.
By Robert Githu