The spirits need to be appeased to end female genital mutilation in the Kuria region, the Council of Elders has said.
“We first need to consult our spirit called eresa to stop girl circumcision completely. Elders will need a black bull, tobacco and yellow containers to appease the spirit which lives in waterways,” CoE secretary Chacha Magaigwa said.
He spoke on Friday after a three-day anti-FGM training organised by NGO Adra Kenya.
The training brought together journalists and Kuria elders.
CoE organising secretary Zachariah Chacha said, “A meeting with the spirits will help amend the Kuria constitution to allow girl circumcision to be terminated completely from the tribe.”
Magaigwa said it will take time to end the practice because it is deeply entrenched in the community’s culture.
He urged the government to be patient as leaders try to end the practice.
The Catholic Church in the Kuria region has rescued more than 200 girls from FGM.
The girls, drawn from Kuria East and West subcounties, are being housed at Kibaroti Catholic Church.
Fr James Kumba on Sunday said, “The Bible does not accept female circumcision and we support calls to end the vice in the Kuria community.
It is unfortunate most girls have been denied the opportunity to associate freely because of the fear of undergoing the outlawed FGM practice.”
Adra Kenya programme officer Mary Kwamboka said the government has been on high alert to reduce cases of FGM.
Twelve elders have been arrested for abetting the practice.
Kwamboka said FGM is linked to the high number of dropouts and teenage pregnancies in the Kuria region.
The state and NGOs have increased campaigns against FGM in the past month as the season for the practice approaches.
