Arrest and prosecute FGM culprits, chiefs told

Make more FGM arrests and ensure the culprits are punished, or you can lose your jobs.

That's what Anti-FGM board chairperson Agnes Pareiyo and Interior ministry official Paul Famba told chiefs and assistant chiefs on Friday last week at Narok Stadium.

Pareiyo said that success in the fight against FGM depends mostly on local administrators, adding the practice is illegal under all circumstances as it hurts girls.

“We want to see you doing more arrests and ensuring the culprits are punished accordingly,” she said.

The meeting was attended by chiefs and their assistants, Narok county commissioner Evans Achoki, six deputy commissioners and their assistants.

Also present were Famba, the director of administration in the Interior ministry, and Anti-FGM board CEO Bernadette Loloju.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has said that FGM must end by 2022.

“The President's directive will be realised if everyone shuns the practice and makes every effort to end it," Pareiyo said.

“The President directed government agencies to ensure the law is enforced and action taken against all perpetrators. That's why were're urging you to help end this vice," she said.

Famba warned chiefs and assistant abetting FGM that they risk losing their jobs.

“As an administrator, you should ensure your area of jurisdiction is free from FGM and related cases of teen pregnancies and early childhood marriages," he said.

Loloju said administrators should educated the communities on the law and the need to end FGM.

“Most people do not have information on the President's directive and it is your responsibility to inform them by holding programmes at the grassroots to help them understand why the state is against this retrogressive cultural practice,”  Loloju said.

(Edited by V. Graham)