• The administrator said they were also working with the Kuria council of elders to stop the outlawed practice.
• Supported by Unicef, the group said the number of girls undergoing the cut could increase rapidly next week after the closure of schools.
Image: /FILE
An emerging trend of parents sending their daughters to Tanzania for FGM has alarmed administrators and experts in Migori.
Records indicate that between December 1 and 15, more than 100 girls, some as young as nine years old, have been smuggled into Tanzania for the cut. This marked the start of the Kuria tradition circumcision season this year.
The tradition, which has been banned by the government, is practised by the community as a rite of passage for girls and is meant to get them ready for marriage.
Kuria West deputy county commissioner Andrew Mwiti said the local administration, the police and non-governmental organisation partners had put in place measures to stop the illegal trafficking of girls into the neighbouring country for the cut.
“We have also put security officers on alert to arrest parents sending their daughters across for illegal operations, as well as those conducting the tradition secretly in Kenya,” he said on the phone.
The administrator said they were also working with the Kuria council of elders to stop the outlawed practice.
Mwiti said they arrested an elderly woman circumciser but released her after she assured them she would abandon the business.
Yesterday, security officers combed villages in Motemorabu and Borega on the country's border with Tanzania, where mass circumcision of girls was reported to be happening.
No arrest was made as the culprits had already crossed over to Tanzania for temporary refuge.
A spot check in Kuria region revealed massive celebrations by villagers following the end of circumcision for both boys and girls.
“Dances and offering of gifts to circumcised teenagers are conducted in homes in Kenya while many of the cuts are done in Tanzania,” resident Joseph Marwa said.
Marwa spoke at Masaba market in Kuria West subcounty as he joined a group of people dancing and escorting boys and girls after facing the ngariba’s knife. He said the tradition was rife in the area and nothing would stop the community from continuing with it.
“The council of elders deceiving the government by pending their signatures on written memorandums to stop the culture are just in business. Let me tell you nothing of that sort will happen in the near future,” he said.
A month ago, the community’s council of elders penned a memorandum with the government and partners to bring the tradition to an end.
Meanwhile, Tunaweza community-based organisation, which is championing the fight against female genital mutilation among the Kurias, said it was overwhelmed with the number of cases of girls being ferried to Tanzania to face the cut.
“Most of the girls are forced, while others go for the operation willingly,” officials of the group, who asked not to be mentioned fearing reprisal by their community, said.
Supported by Unicef, the group said the number of girls undergoing the cut could increase rapidly next week after the closure of schools.
The officials urged the government to seal the porous border to stop parents from crossing into Tanzania with their daughters for the cut.
Edited by A.N