Chiefs from Samburu County have been sensitized on the negative effects of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in a bid to curb the vice in the region.
The chiefs from Samburu central sub county were taken through the physical, mental, medical and psychological impacts of FGM using audio and visual aids.
Speaking after the sensitization workshop in Maralal town Monday, the County Director of Children Services Jane Kabiru told KNA that in collaboration with UNICEF and the County Gender Steering Committee, all chiefs and assistant chiefs will undergo anti-FGM sensitization since they are on the ground and they can easily cascade the same knowledge to the people.
The Director said this is in line with the presidential directive to end FGM in the country by the year 2022.
Kabiru said that apart from sensitizing the chiefs and their assistants on the negative effects of FGM, they also trained them on how to report on FGM issues so that a database can be created on the milestones made in the fight against the vice.
“We have taken them through a reporting template which they are supposed to fill and report monthly on the number of FGM cases in their locations, FGM attempts, early marriages and the number of cases prosecuted,” she said.
“This will enable us get the actual statistics of FGM in the county as well as the progress and gaps in the fight against FGM,” she said.
During the workshop, the chiefs noted that nowadays FGM takes place during the night and their major challenge in the fight against it was clannism and political interference.
“When a chief is about to prosecute a FGM or child marriage related case, clan elders come together and form a kangaroo court where they resolve things their own way and if the chief persists, then politicians are involved and it becomes very difficult for us to continue since we live in that society with our families,” said a chief who sought anonymity.
Maralal town Assistant Chief Selina Lemakara said that her male counterparts will now be able to sensitize the community against FGM from a point of knowledge after they were shown a video of a girl undergoing FGM.
“I saw them cringe because they don’t know what their daughters and wives undergo, now they will be able to fight FGM knowing what it is and what young girls go through. This videos should also be shown in schools so that our boys and girls can have long term memory and fight the vice in future,” she said.
By Robert Githu
