Where many schoolgirls miss class over old, harmful ritual

Story by KENNEDY MASIBO and SOLLO KIRAGU
Publication Date: 2007/05/09
The Nation

Female circumcision is still common in many parts of Rift Valley Province, leading to a high drop-out rate in schools among girls.

Traditionally, students who go through the rite are married off at an early age.

Schoolgirls take a break after complaining of malaria-like fever. “A common belief among some communities in the Rift Valley is that once initiated, girls are mature for marriage. Many poor parents take advantage of this.”
In Kericho District, more than 1,200 girls leave school annually at both primary and secondary school levels, mainly after the ritual.

District social development officer Boniface Kilel cites a case in Chepkoiyo, Ainamoi Division, this year where 27 girls who went through the ceremony did not resume learning.

Last year, in Kebeneti village, Belgut Division, out of 100 girls who were circumcised, only 20 returned to school. The others were married off by their parents.

Sigowet Division had 110 cases of girls going through the rite, while Londiani had 36. Many of the girls were below 15 years of age.

Take advantage

A common belief in the Kalenjin community is that once initiated, girls are mature for marriage. Many poor parents take advantage of this.

Mr Kilel says many girls under the age of 15 succumb to pressure from their parents, peers and colleagues.

According to him, more than 300 girls were forced to go through the cultural ritual in various parts of the district late last year.

“Many parents encourage this vice. There is great need of the church, religious leaders and others to supplement Government’s efforts to eradicate this rite,” says Mr Kilel.

He says the Government has formed committees from the village, locational to district levels to tackle the problem.

“Unless the situation is contained, very few girls will be left in school. We have to wake up to this reality.”

Against the law

The role of the committees is to sensitise the society on the dangers of early marriages and female circumcision, besides telling parents that the practice violates the law.

The rite is compounded by the emergence of HIV and Aids, with some men believing that girls who have gone through the rite are free of the virus.

Nominated MP Esther Keino and assistant minister Alicen Chelaite say women should be at the forefront of campaigns to eradicate it.

The practice, says Dr Keino, contravenes the Children’s Act and is punishable by law.

Girls, she adds, deserve equal opportunities to boys. Parents should not discriminate on the basis of gender.

Mrs Chelaite calls for mass education by the Government and non-governmental organisations against the retrogressive practice.

She says traditional circumcisers should stop perpetuating the vice and advises them to turn to other income generating ventures to sustain themselves.

Kericho Maendeleo ya Wanawake district treasurer Mary Cherotich says the problem threatens girl child education, and emphasises that women alone cannot stop the practice.

“We appeal to the Government and political leaders to crusade against the vice,” she says.

Barrier to progress

Church leaders from the community describe the practice as outdated and have appealed to leaders and other people to join the fight against it.

Pastor Joseph Kimei says every community should be proud of its culture, but some aspects of culture are barriers to civilisation and development.

A senior official with the Ministry of Education, Ms Salome Aghan, cites Pokot, Turkana, Marakwet, Samburu, Baringo, Bomet, Narok, Trans Mara and parts of Koibatek as areas where girls are married off at an early age.

She regrets that many parents are not taking their daughters to school despite the free primary education programme initiated by the Government.

“The provincial administration should enforce the Government’s order on compulsory education for all children, irrespective of their the gender.”

Mr Ken Wafula of the Eldoret-based Centre for Human Rights and Democracy blames ambiguities in law for the rise in cases in Kenya.

He says the Children’s Act, which came into force in 2001, does not deal firmly with offenders.

He cites a case in Bomet where two practitioners were arrested but the prosecution was unable to raise the proper charges. The duo was sentenced to two years on probation.

Declined temporarily

Mr Wafula, who has been crusading against the cultural practice in Marakwet and other parts of the province, says the vice had declined temporarily. This was due to an offer by various volunteers to protect girls who fled home and school when told to undergo the rite.

The organisation Mr Wafula heads used to deploy volunteers in the villages. Would-be victims went to the volunteers for protection.

“The organisation would then apply for temporary orders from courts to restrain parents and guardians from circumcising the girls,” he says.

Later, some parents and guardians expressed regret over their initial decision to be circumcised and promised to protect the girls from the ritual themselves.

Mr Wafula says a stiff law should be introduced through an Act of Parliament to curb it, otherwise many girls will continue to drop out of school. Lately, his organisation has not been actively involved in the crusade, owing to various setbacks, among them the emergence of “briefcase” NGOs that have no presence at the grassroots. These outfits are not sincere in their campaign, he says.