The county government of Kisii has recruited over 90 and admitted them for special training that has been adopted as an alternative to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) which has been practiced over years in the region.
Speaking on Monday at Nyabururu Primary School which will host the girls for the next one week, Mrs Elizabeth Ongwae who has been on the fore front in the campaign against FGM said the program is set to expand to rural areas.
Mrs Ongwae lauded parents who offered to voluntarily give their children for training and urged those still stuck in the old and retrogressive rite of passage to come to the reality and shun it.
“I am happy that we are making a progress because some parents have given their girls to us for training. In future, we are going to decentralize the venues to local areas so that we can reach more. This is the time for the community to rise against the vice," she said.
According to her, more counselors will be absorbed by the county government to pursue the exercise in future and welcomed any intervention by the well-wishers.
“FMG is illegal and it has serious side effects for our girls. We don’t have to do it just because our parents did it and that is why we are in the process of recruiting more counselors to teach our children on how to handle themselves. Well-wishers are also invited,” she added.
The exercise is only targeting girls of between 10-15 years and will be held on December, August and April holidays.