The government has issued a stern warning to medics abetting female genital mutilation in the country.
Public Service and Gender CAS Rachael Shebesh said the government was aware that some rogue health officers were using public health facilities to perpetrate the vice.
She said some health personnel were alres being investigated.
"It is something that we are aware and keenly keeping tabs on," Shebesh said.
Many of the medics especially in the hot spots where the vice was rampant, are colluding with parents and guardians to commit a felony, she added.
Going forward, she said security agencies would be be arresting and prosecuting any nurse or doctor found offering FGM services either in public or private health facilities.
"Chiefs and assistant chiefs have a mandate to stem this vice. As much it was a traditional practice, today it remains illegal," Shebesh added.
The Administrative Secretary was speaking in Kisii during a tour on Friday.
By shunning the vice, the communities would be protecting the rights of the girl child, added Shebesh.
As many as 22 communities in the country are till practicing the vice thus endangering the lives, she said.
In certain instances, some initiates have bled to death due to the act.
Kisii county has a current prevalence rate of 94 percent of FGM.
Shebesh was accompanied by anti-FGM Board chairperson Agnes Mantaine, Kisii County Commissioner Stephen Kehara and Police Commander Jebel Munene.
Also in attendance were Kisii county Executive Committee Members: Ednah Kangwana, Administration and United Nations Population Fund ( UNFPA) country Representaive Dr Ademola Olajide.
Shebesh said President Uhuru Kenyatta was committed to ending the vice by 2022.
“If it took us a week to stop greeting one another due the outbreak of corona virus, what rock science is needed to stop FGM?” Shebesh posed.
Kihara on his part challenged chiefs to involve clan elders and members of Nyumba kumi (ten households) in fighting FGM.
He warned against holding kangaroo courts to protect perpetrators of the practice.
He urged the administrators to monitor children in their localities and arrest parents and guardians who subject their children to the retrogressive cultural practice.
Kangwana said the county has set up a rescue centre at Kenyenya sub county, a gender desk at Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital to address gender based violence.
