The changing social dynamics in Laikipia county have made the Maa community elders a worried lot. Morans are turning to women from other communities, including white women, who have not undergone female genital mutilation.
Maasai girls are usually circumcised between the ages of 11 and 13 and soon afterwards married off to men of their fathers choosing in exchange for cattle and cash.
Musa Kirobi, 60, a retired administrator and an elder at ll Ngwesi, fears that Maasai girls might remain unmarried and fall into despair as the morans cast the marital net in other communities.
Kirobi has three wives, but refuses to state the exact number of his children. He did not however subject his daughters to FGM after he found out the adverse effects it has on women.
“This culture of subjecting our girls to the cut is not right. It’s baffling that most of our boys are marrying into other communities or bringing white ladies who are not circumcised. So why should we have our girls go through it?” says the former assistant chief.
“I was born into this culture and in the golden days a woman not circumcised used to be considered a baby; she could not even find a husband. But the trend is changing after all there are no known health benefits to FGM.”
Kirobi, now a pastor, further finds fault with the huge gap in his teeth and the piercings in his ears, which he says have no benefit at all. Ear piercing and the removal of the lower permanent incisors in early childhood are practices that
have been documented by the Maasai. The teeth are removed as they are believed to be the root of illness. Most Maasai men have stretched earlobes, long enough to entirely wrap around the top part of the ear.
“All this we say is culture, but what is their benefit. All these years, I have not seen the need or urgency to pierce my ears or remove my teeth,” he grumbles.
Kirobi argues that the women in Laikipia have not fully accepted the ban on FGM as the majority have refused to embrace the anti-FGM campaigns and instead go ahead with the act.
Kirobi was part of 200 other elders who took part in a cleansing ceremony in Chumvi grounds, Laikipia, three weeks ago. The elders from Kajiado, Samburu and Kaikipia lifted a curse they pronounced on girls who refused to undergo FGM.
Although FGM has been outlawed in Kenya since 2001, the majority of girls of semi-nomadic tribes such as the Maasai and Samburu still undergo this painful and damaging ritual. FGM which is a deeply rooted tradition and culture, has no health benefits, and it harms girls and women in many ways. It involves removing and damaging healthy, normal female genital tissue – interfering with their natural body functions.
Elder Nkori Kirobi, 45, acknowledged that FGM is wrong and it is time for men to stand up and fight against it.
The father of two girls and many sons says the Maasai culture is deeply rooted and FGM can’t be easily eradicated, but through a process that will require all stakeholders to join hands.
The jovial elder has taken it upon himself to educate his daughters about the dangers of FGM. He has also urged teachers to help by speaking out against the tradition.
“There was a curse by our forefathers on women who didn't undergo the cut. Uncircumcised women could never find a man to marry them. If she happened to be pregnant and not circumcised she would be chased away from the community. But the trend is beginning to change,” he says.
“I have educated my children on matters FGM with the help of my wife. And today we denounce the curses and declare blessings upon or girls, women, wives.”
Mary Tema, a third wife of one of the elders, says FGM remains a huge challenge. Despite progress n the anti-FGM campaign, there is worrying evidence that the average age at which the practice is carried out is falling.
“Our girls are now being circumcised at the age of five and in a more discreet manner. It is terrible. This war is far from over. The government should stress on this issue as mothers haven’t accepted it fully,” she says.
Tema wants the government to educate the women in the community regarding FGM and its consequences.
She says once girls are circumcised they feel they have become women, regardless of their age. “This is why you will find girls as young as 14 having given birth because they now believe they are mature women. But in their mind they are still babies.”
The FGM rates among the Samburu, Pokot, Maasai and Marakwet communities remain high, despite the culture being criminalised.
Many girls are forced into FGM in December as this is the peak operation season. The fear of the curse remains high, with some of the girls opting to be circumcised on their own volition.
At the cleansing ceremony, young morans adorned in Maasai outfits vowed not to marry circumcised girls. “We are the ones to marry these ladies. So please stop subjecting them to the cut,” they declared.
“When you circumcise them, you spoil them. We don't want our girls cut. Girls from other tribes aren't going through the cut, why should ours do it.”
Josephine Ndirius, who runs a girls' empowerment programme, says FGM is the root cause of teenage pregnancy and school dropout.
FGM used to be a big deal, but with the anti-FGM war, it has faded away, although there are rare cases of families practising it at night to avoid being caught, she says. “We have been educating the community on the dangers of FGM both socially and legally. Elders have understood the effect of FGM that’s why they decided to break the curse and bless our girls. But a lot remains to be done.”
Poverty, cultural barriers and lack of awareness are some of the driving causes of FGM.
Ndirius explains that teen pregnancy has become a nightmare in Chumvi. When she tries to educate the girls on using contraceptives or condoms, she gets a lot of backlash from the community.
“This year we had a camp and talked about sexual reproductive health. We received complaints that we were teaching girls about family planning. Yet there is a need to do so once girl become sexually active.”
For the last few months her programme has been trying to involve the ministries of Education and Health on reproductive health issues.
“We want them to spearhead this issue and talk to our girls about it. The rate at which girls are dropping out of school due to early childbearing as a result of FGM and lack of sexual education is a worrying.”
A study released by the Ministry of Health this year revealed that 378,395 adolescent girls aged 10 to 19 became pregnant between July 2016 and June this year. Narok county had the highest burden of teen pregnancies at 40 per cent, surpassing the national average of 18 per cent.
It was followed by Homa Bay at 33 per cent, West Pokot at 29 per cent, Samburu at 26 per cent while Isiolo and Laikipia recorded 19 per cent.