• Parents who are salivating for cows from their daughters who have not attained marriage age will be arrested and prosecuted.
• Chiefs to be arrested as they know about all marriage ceremonies in their areas.
Chiefs will be held responsible for allowing FGM and early marriage and parents will be arrested and prosecuted in West Pokot.
That’s what county commissioner Apollo Okello told the Star on Wednesday morning.
He urged chiefs, village elders and Nyumba Kumi officials to be on alert to prevent both mutilation and early wedlock. The commissioner did not specify the consequences for chiefs and others.
No girl should be married off during the Covid-19 pandemic because their parents face hard times and want cows, he said.
And no underage girl should be married off at any time, Akello said.
“If such acts happen in the village, the chiefs will be held responsible since there is no ceremony that can take place in your areas without area leaders being aware,” he said.
West Pokot is an FGM hotspot.
Since schools closed in mid-March due to the pandemic, more than 500 girls have been subjected to FGM, children’s rights groups say.
“We shall be forced to arrest parents who are salivating for cows from their daughters who have not attained marriage age under the Constitution,” Akello said.
FGM is considered necessary before a girl is marriageable.
He urged parents to protect their children from inhumane acts of FGM and premature marriage.
“We need to respect the rights of children and stop exposing them to acts that violate their rights. We must ensure all girls report back to school when they reopen next year,” Akello said.
Let’s invest in the education of our children so that they can help us when we age,” he said. Don’t invest in cows for the short term.
Those subjecting their children to FGM will be arrested and prosecuted, he said.
His comments follow the Kenya National Union of Teachers calling on parents to protect their children from early pregnancy.
Knut national executive for Rift Valley Martin Sembelo said many girls have been sexually abused and made pregnant during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Parents have failed in their parenting responsibility. Most of them have handed over their children to their grandparents while they have remained in cities,” he said.
(Edited by V. Graham)