Many religious cults are practicing the outlawed Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the guise of religion
Nominated member of county assembly Esther Mengere cited that some denominations of the Akorino faith and Mungiki sect still carry the outlawed practices.
Speaking to the press in Naivasha, Mengere noted that some of the subscribers carried out the practice to be initiated into the religion.
“We have seen cases where they are forced to undergo the practice so that they can be accepted into the religion. This has slowly been pulling back the efforts to fight FGM,” she added.
Mengere added that in some Akorino sects, the girls are forced to undergo the practice so that they can become “women.”
“They are threatened that they will not get people to marry them in case they do not get circumcised. To avoid this, they opt to go through with it,” she added.
Mengere noted that this was stealing the innocence of the children, citing that they were forced to become mature at a tender age. Mengere pointed out that they could not behave in a certain way as they were now perceived as adult women.
“In most cases, the children are taken to the grandmother’s house during school holidays and when they are brought back, they are already circumcised. In some cases, they are married off immediately. They only come to talk about it much later,” she added.
She also pointed out that the practice was also rife at Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camps in Naivasha.
At the same time, the MCA is seeking to have FGM ntroduced in the school curriculum.
She says that this is the only way to ensure that children understand the vice and it is after effects from a tender age.
“We only introduced it to the children in awareness campaigns which come and go. If it is included in the school curriculum, the students can be able to make better arguments against the practice. They will spearhead the campaigns themselves,” she added.