The Covert Return Of FGM In Central Kenya

KIAMBU, Kenya, Sept 16- It is happening, yet it remains closely guarded.

It is so discreet that even security officers and administrators who spoke to Shahidi News admitted that it was challenging for them to infiltrate the several sects, which have been accused of promoting Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Kiambu and other parts of Central Kenya.

Several actors fighting the menace are currently playing catch up.

The focus on the war against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Kenya has largely been in areas where the Maasai community, Kuria, or Kisii reside, however, this is changing and Central Kenya where there was little or no such incidents, an increase in the number of women who are undergoing the cut is on the rise, albeit in secrecy. 

The winds of FGM have been blowing in the region since early 2019, hundreds of girls and married women have undergone the cut, according to multiple sources drawn from traditionalists, authorities, and elders. 

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 200 million girls are at the risk of undergoing the harmful practice globally, many of them being under the age of 15 years.

In Kenya, around 4 million, or one in five, women and girls have been subjected to FGM according to the study conducted by UNICEF, while 574,000 additional girls are at risk of undergoing the practice by 2030. The UN agency released the statistics in August 2021. 

Why is Central Kenya emerging as a hotspot? 

Why are the gains made by anti-FGM crusaders melting away into the hands of young men, who are convinced that they are “fighting for the community, by “allowing the river to take its natural course?” 

The justification of the sect members is taming what they term as sexual appetite for young girls and women, as a way to end promiscuity- which they say has become a menace in the region.

But this story debunks the myth.  

“In the old days, a woman would only need a man (sexually) when he was with her. Do you know why? Because they got circumcised,” Njoroge wa Waigwa, a 96-year-old traditionalist from Ndumberi in Kiambu County told Shahidi News. 

Jackson, not his real name, is a member of Gwata Ndai sect whose main operating area has been Ndumberi and Ting’ang’a areas of Kiambu, but with time, the sect is spreading its wings across the Mt. Kenya Region. 

“You will be surprised to learn how many ladies are being circumcised,” he told Shahidi News, and quickly added, “it is voluntary. No one is being forced.”

According to him, the women who have allegedly agreed to undergo the illegal cut oblivious of the health implications on their bodies, are ‘talked’ through “its importance.”

“You see, they want to save their marriages. Our group (the sect) is about promoting our traditions…most men who used to drink or engage in ill behaviours have stopped. It is also about empowering our young men,” he said. 

“My wife accepted to undergo the cut since she saw how I had changed…I became more responsible.” 

An administrator based in Kiambu, who spoke to Shahidi News and cannot be named since he is not allowed to speak to journalists, said some women have been forced to undergo the cut.

“We have received such reports but it becomes very hard to know when these things happen. We have laid traps but we have never been successful…it is like they are 

taken somewhere for circumcision and not within my jurisdiction,” the administrator said.

Many of those who have been circumcised, the administrator said did so for the fear of being rejected by their spouses.

It is a practice said to help men preserve their superior values and dominant role in society. But at what expense?

While Jackson painted a picture of a democratic group, most of those who were interviewed sought anonymity, citing safety concerns. 

-‘I did it for my husband’-

In 2020, Jackson’s wife Wanjiru underwent the cut, just to make her husband happy.

“No one forced me,” she said. Notably, she did not maintain her eye contact this time round; she looked down.  

At first, Wanjiru was against it, but she was later “talked through it.”

And while she did not reveal where she went for the cut, it happened.

“You see, I do not want to cause my children trouble by failing to be accustomed to traditions. It is not a new thing. It is the white man who told us it was bad,” she said.

-‘All My Daughters Are Circumcised’- 

On October 22, 2019, Kiambu County Commissioner Wilson Wanyanga singled out Ndumberi and Ting’ang’a areas as the worst hit.

“This is a new phenomenon in Kiambu and those involved should stop it before the long arm of the law catches up with you,” he said.

He affirmed that “retrogressive traditions cannot be accepted back in the area. We will protect our girls.” 

Both areas have a high population of young men, the majority of them doing casual jobs to earn a living.

I also spoke to Wa Waigwa, a traditionalist who understands the activities of some of the sects said to be promoting FGM in Kiambu County.

According to Wa Waigwa, a woman who is not circumcised is called ‘Kirigu’.

He explained that the term ‘Kirigu’ was used to describe a grown-up girl, above the age of 13 years, who was yet to be circumcised. 

And of all his 5 daughters, he proudly said none is a ‘Kirigu’.

“All my daughters are circumcised…” the elder who was seated during the interview said, with some sense of pride in his voice.

He quickly added, “my wife too. She sired 15 babies; only that two passed away during birth.” 

One such sect that is said to be promoting Female Genital Mutilation, despite denial by its leaders is called Gwata Ndai.

“I know what they are doing. It is wrong. Women who are already married or have experienced menstrual periods should be left alone,” he said. 

Though illegal according to the Kenyan laws, he said “the focus should be on the young ones. Just before they start experiencing their menstrual periods, they should be circumcised. That way, we shall have protected our traditions.” 

He added that “we cannot go back to our traditions by circumcising older women.”

Like the several sects cropping up in Kiambu and other parts of Central Kenya, he said circumcision of women “is the only sure way of fighting promiscuity.”

“You see, a woman should be able to wait for even one year for her husband without feeling the need to be sexually active.”

-Does FGM end promiscuity? –

Dr. Guyo Galdesa, who is an Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and a member of Kenya Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society, says there is no scientific evidence that FGM reduces the urge for sex. 

He was categorical that subjecting a woman to circumcision will not stop promiscuity.

“It is a moral issue,” he told Shahidi News. “This amounts to discrimination of one gender. There is no scientific proof that women’s circumcision stops promiscuity.” 

He added that, “FGM has no benefits but instead it causes serious complications to the body of a woman. Nobody should be subjected to any form of harm.” 

“Sexual desire like hunger for food is controlled in the brain and not in the genitalia.” 

According to Waweru wa Mbugua, an elder with Kiama Kia Ma- a faction of the Kikuyu Council of Elders, “Gwata Ndai is a group of young men who are only seeking to make money. They are promoting Female Genital Mutilation which is against the laws of Kenya.”

Kiama Kia Ma, has since publicly disassociated itself with Gwata Ndai- whose members are largely young men, of diverse social backgrounds and professions. 

But according to Gwata Ndai chairperson Kimani Chiragu, they are victims of falsehood. 

“We have a very simple job, disseminating Gikuyu traditional knowledge,” Chiragu said, adding that him too, “was shocked by the allegations leveled against the group by some people.”

Police, elders, and women who spoke to Shahidi News however held a contrary opinion.

The Kiambu County Commissioner said security agencies are monitoring all the groups said to be promoting cultural practices, to ensure they do not include Female Genital Mutilation of young girls and women.

“While we have received reports of some groups promoting women circumcision, getting a complainant has always been a challenge for us to arrest and prosecute those involved,” the County Commissioner said during an interview with Shahidi News.

He added that since 2019, when the groups would openly gather, “they have gone underground. They know we are monitoring their activities.”

He urged members of the public to come out and provide information that will help curb the vice in Kiambu County and ensure women and specifically young girls are protected.

“Most of these groups say they are promoting positive cultural activities. But we are working with our officers to ensure they do not promote retrogressive activities in the process,” he added. 

According to the Prohibition of the Female Genital Mutilation Act, 2011, “A person who commits an offence under this Act is liable, on conviction, to imprisonment for a term of not less than three years, or to a fine of not less than two hundred thousand shillings, or both.”

FGM has many health effects including recurrent urinary and vaginal infections, chronic pain, infertility, hemorrhaging, epidermoid cysts, and difficult labor.

It also has a psychological impact and abnormalities in the female sexual function.

Under the Presidential Costed Action Plan, President Uhuru Kenyatta hopes to eradicate FGM in Kenya by 2022.

But with the emerging hotspots and links to underground groups, some with political connections, will it be possible?