The Pokot Community Council of Elders has pledged to banish Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the community after rewriting their customary laws in a document dubbed ‘Pokot Cultural and Traditional Laws and Regulations’ to curb the vice in the region.
Seventy men and women were trained and sensitized by the World Vision Kenya Organization against the culture.
The introduced laws will be applied in West Pokot and Baringo County and implemented through the County Assembly, the Kenyan Constitution and International Laws.
Assistant Secretary of the Council, Phillip Lomong’in acknowledged that FGM is a retrogressive cultural practice that is detrimental to the progress of the community adding that they were committed to engaging all stakeholders in fighting it.
William Lopetakou, also known as Baba Culture, lamented that the current generation has not been keen on transforming and protecting the community from such vices.
He warned that the laws will be tough and elders will be moving around to sensitize the community on the new laws.
Elizabeth Mworor, an elder, said that many young girls have dropped out of school due to teenage pregnancies.
“Many Pokot women face domestic violence from their husbands when they try to protect their children from early child marriages,” she added.
West Pokot Chief Officer for Culture and Gender, Paul Alak, said that they will sensitize the public through barazas, seminars, radio talk shows and roadshows.
He added that they already have support from the National and County Governments, the Church and various Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).
Alak further said that through facilitation from the Ministry of Education (MoE) they will teach learners to understand the importance of rejecting FGM, teenage pregnancies and early forced marriages.
World Vision Kenya Project officer for Livelihood Project in West Pokot, Bill Ouma, cited that the organization will ensure economic empowerment and value chain development in the community.
Despite the country passing the anti-FGM law in 2011 and elders from Kenya and Uganda meeting in February 2021 to make a declaration to stop FGM, many girls between the age of 12 -17 continue facing the barbaric cut.
By Kipilat Kapusyya
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