Cabinet Secretary for Gender, Culture and Children Services, Hanna Wendot Cheptumo, has issued a stern warning to Bomet County residents over its high Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) rate, challenging the community to end the practice at the grassroots level.
Speaking in Siongiroi in Bomet County, CS Cheptumo highlighted the county’s 26% FGM prevalence, a figure significantly higher than Kenya’s national average of 15% as a major concern that actively hinders girls’ access to education, fuels early marriages, and exposes them to severe health risks.
“While Kenya’s national FGM prevalence is at 15%, the significantly higher rate of 26% in Bomet County alone poses a serious concern, all this people came here to Bomet not because you are doing the best but because of the alarming rates,” Cheptumo told the residents of Bomet during the 2025 International Day of the Girl Child.
Speaking under the theme “The Girl I Am, The Change I Lead in Crisis,” CS Cheptumo affirmed that the government views the empowerment of girls as foundational to national progress, asserting that the future of Kenya will be built by the hands and minds of her girls.
She added that for the country to end on the FGM, such cases must end first at the grassroots levels especially in counties that still records higher rates annually.
She said that this issue actively hinders girls’ access to education, fuels early marriages, and poses severe health risks, was the rallying cry for a renewed, high-level commitment to change.
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“FGM hinders access to education and exposing many girls to early marriages and health risks and therefore, we must end by this issue starting with us here at grassroot level,” Cheptumo said.
The CS made an appeal to the community’s men, asking them to reject FGM and acknowledge the equality of all women whether they are circumcised or not.
“All the women, whether circumcised or not, are equal and all are capable of guiding our families,” she stated.
Cheptumo challenged FGM as a cultural belief that goes against “God’s creation” and warned Bomet residents to act decisively.
She stressed that the government’s engagement with the county on FGM must end, announcing that future visits will be for development purposes only.
The Cabinet Secretary lauded a group of women in Bomet County who were previously involved in female genital mutilation (FGM) but have now reformed and are actively leading anti-FGM campaigns in the region.
According to her, these women should be appreciated for making a bold decision that demonstrates the commitment to ending FGM.
Furthermore, the women have formed a Sacco (Savings and Credit Co-operative) and have ventured into farming as an alternative livelihood.
“I want to congratulate the women in this region who have down their tools of cutting our girls and have now ventured into agriculture, such commitments assure us the aim of ending the FGM,” Cheptumo said.
By Our reporter
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