By Manuel Odeny (From Tarime, Tanzania)
Gender activists and government officials from Kenya and Tanzania are bracing for an upsurge of Female Genital Mutilation among the Kuria community in the December season after an hiatus last year.
Already 13 clans from the community, four in Kenya and the rest in Tanzania, are planning to undergo circumcision at the same time later this year.
During last December holiday only Bwirege clan, which cuts across both Kenya and Tanzania underwent circumcision but attempts at controlling cross border the vice still faced challenges.
Across the two countries security, media, activists and government officials met in Tarime to scale up for the upcoming season in Tarime town, Tanzania.
“We are here to map out best way to stop cross border circumcision in December and we have also deliberated on challenges we faced last year because despite only one clan undergoing the cut we still had challenges,” Vincent Mwita, an activist with Tunaweza Empowerment based in Kenya said.
Mwita said they brought the group to help ensure rescue centers for girls fleeing FGM are closer to the border and coordination of arrests of suspects and stopping circumcisers from crossing the border is controlled.
“Last year Tanzania underwent an election period this caused a slack, put in past meetings we had established an active communication channel which helped disrupt cross border activities,” Michael Marwa of C-Sema based in Mara province of Tanzania said.
The two said for the first time they reported cases of eight boys and men who underwent circumcision in hospitals being forced to get re-circumcised with two suspects arrested in Kenya.
In Kenya a total of 120 girls were rescued after fleeing circumcision with two active court cases while in Tanzania eight hotspot areas of cross border circumcision were controlled with two active acses still being followed.
Major Edward Ngoele, Tarime District Commissioner in a message read by District Secretary Salm Mwaisenye said they helped 63 children across 48 schools, both secondary and primary, avert circumcision with government officials being vigilant across 63 health facilities in the border region to pass anti-FGM messages.
In 2019 Kenya joined other regional countries of Somalia, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania to end cross border circumcision by forming joint taskforces to end the vice among communities that transcend the borders.
“That children can escape the vice shows that as regional governments we need to be extra-vigilant to end it because at least the younger generation knows we have a problem,” Ngoele said.
Across the Mara region Tanzania issued Tsh10.2million health insurance for about 2,000 elders and Tsh1.063bn digital funds to 60 groups as a means of offering alternative means of ending Female Genital Mutilation.
Mwaisenye said last year on July a similar meeting was organised in Tarime and called for more before August this year for clear work plans to curb on how to disrupt the vice.
