Three Maasai school girls were rescued from undergoing Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) by a journalist in Mavoko, Machakos County.
The three girls’ grandmother had planned to perform FGM on them over the December 2022 festive period following the closure of schools.
Journalist Zipporah Sawaina said that she received a tip about the plans and had informed administrators who visited the girl’s home and warned the grandmother against going ahead with her plans on conducting FGM on the young girls.
Sawaina, the founder of Nashipakinoi Motivational Program, said that the community should abolish FGM because it leaves physical and psychological scars on the victims besides being illegal according to Kenyan Law.
“We should be close to our children and advise them on the effects of FGM and early marriage. Those are dangerous outdated prices. We should invest in educating our girls,” said Sawaina.
Athi River North sub-location Assistant Chief Nelly Mutunkei said that the girls and their parents were against their grandmother’s plan who had demanded that they be cut or she places a curse on them together with the Assistant Chief.
“Nowadays FGM is done to girls aged 5 years, they know if the girls get to the age of 10 years they will not accept going through the ordeal,” she added.
Mavoko Assistant County Commissioner Abdala Idi said that social media had contributed to early marriages and urged parents to monitor what their children are watching online.
According to Athi River Children Officer Shally Mwadime, many children use dangerous drugs for abortion without the knowledge of their parents and others are having anal sex which they reckon is safe due to the impossibility of getting pregnant.
Nashipakinoi held a mentorship program for young girls where she taught them on the importance of going to school, the effects of FGM, and early marriages.
Stakeholders meetings also followed where local administrators and the media were engaged in ways of curbing FGM, early pregnancies, and forced marriages during the ongoing holiday period.