Gender CS Ann Cheptumo puts Baringo administrators on notice over persistent FGM cases

Cheptumo said administrators have a duty to protect girls and women from the practice and cannot afford to look away when it happens in the communities they oversee.

She was speaking during a three-day women's conference that drew women of faith from all six constituencies of Baringo County, where she voiced concern that FGM persists despite years of sensitisation campaigns, legal measures and sustained effort from the Government, religious organisations and other stakeholders.

Held under the theme "Restoring Lost Glory", the conference brought together women from different Christian denominations to discuss issues affecting women and girls, among them harmful cultural practices, education, family welfare and the role of the church in confronting challenges facing society.

Cheptumo said it was disturbing that young girls, and increasingly adult women, were still undergoing the cut in parts of the county. She described the practice as retrogressive and cautioned that cultural belief cannot be used as cover for subjecting girls and women to practices that violate their rights and endanger their health.

Pastor Salina Chelimo, who also addressed the conference, called for an end to outdated cultural practices that persist in modern society, particularly in communities where Christianity has a strong footing.

Chelimo said the church has a significant role to play in transforming communities and challenging practices that harm women and girls, adding that Christianity and harmful tradition cannot be allowed to coexist where such practices strip individuals of their dignity, rights and wellbeing.

She said the church would work closely with the Government and other stakeholders to educate communities and stamp out the practice.

Concern over FGM remains high in parts of Baringo, with Tiaty Sub-County still cited among the areas where the practice is most entrenched.

Reports of girls disappearing from their homes and schools have alarmed education stakeholders, with some schools recording sharply reduced enrolment and attendance among girls, particularly during periods when the cut is believed to be taking place.

Stakeholders fear that girls who undergo FGM risk being married off early or dropping out of school altogether, threatening to reverse gains made in girls' education.

In Baringo South, concern has also grown over adult women undergoing the cut, a shift stakeholders say is making the fight against the practice harder to win.