Anti-FGM activists in Tana River county have appealed to President William Ruto not to relent in efforts to eradicate female genital mutilation.
Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta had in 2019 committed to eradicating the retrogressive practice in Kenya by December 2022.
The prohibition of the FGM Act of 2011 established an anti-FGM board tasked with designing, supervising and coordinating public awareness programmes against the vice.
Speaking at a Hola hotel during the Tana River subcounty anti-FGM committee meeting on Monday, the activists said the achievements made thus far cannot be gainsaid.
“Our concern is we don't know whether the retired President's commitment to end the vice by December 2022 was a presidential decree, an executive order or it was domiciled in our laws,” George Galugalu, Plan International Tana River coordinator said.
Galugalu added that they are not sure if Ruto will follow his predecessor's position on ending FGM by December.
“If that position is relaxed, all that we have reaped can be rolled back. I would request Ruto to hold on to Kenyatta’s commitment. He should not change the intervention period to FGM in our country," Galugalu said.
Nasteha Abubakar, an anti-FGM activist said the approach in conducting FGM has significantly changed to avoid the hawk-eyed activists.
She revealed that nowadays girls undergo the cut under the cover of darkness in far-flung areas, where there is no mobile network.
“Girls are transported to the forest where there is no network, after schools are closed, it will be difficult to end the vice by 2022,” Abubakar said.
Committee members also lamented that cases of FGM were not being reported to the police for necessary action to be taken against the perpetrators.
However, Tana River subcounty police commander Patrick Kafulo urged members of the community to continue furnishing them with any vital information to arrest perpetrators of FGM.
“As it is now, cases of FGM are rarely reported to the police. There are many records of defilements. But we don't get regular reports from society and stakeholders. We need to find alternative ways to get these reports,” Kafulo said.
County gender officer Aggrey Nyangweso said the region was vast and the vice usually takes place in interior parts, adding that the way of life of pastoralists further makes it difficult to track their movements as they always move in search of water and pasture.
“All the same we have reduced the cases of FGM in the past, they used to be more than 95 per cent, but currently they have decreased to around 60 percent,” he said.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)
