AMUDAT, UGANDA – Although the Government banned Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) practices and child marriage in Uganda, Amudat locals said the practices are still prevalent in their communities.
Local leaders say FGM is often performed in a rush, in unsafe and unsanitary conditions, thus increasing the health risks. Girls travel in small groups to a remote area where they get cut and sometimes, they may seek treatment at health facilities later.
Ms Lonnah Cheptilak, the district councilor representing Kongorok and Loroo sub-counties, says whereas leaders have tried to sensitize communities about the dangers of the two vices, the practices are still rampant, especially in Kongorok sub-county.
Ms Cheptilak attributed the prevalence to a lack of schools in the community.
“Kongorok is a new sub-county and a hard-to-reach area that has no schools. So, when the girl becomes idle at home, the parents force her to get married. But when the girl is in school, the parents can’t give her away because they fear being arrested,” Ms. Cheptilak said in an interview with UG Standard.
He added that for a child from Kongorok sub-county to attain education, they have to trek a distance of about 25 km to a nearby school in Loroo sub-country.
Loroo sub-country has only one primary school and newly seeds secondary school that was started in the previous year, 2022, with only three classes and serving a population of approximately 17000 people in two sub-counties.
Ms Cheptilak requested the government through their district Council meeting, to set up at least a school in Kongorok sub-country in the next financial year such that girls can have access to education and eventually reduce the number of illiteracy rates in the community.
Based on the 2014 population statistics, the district had a population of 143,300 people and less than 10,000 people could read and write.
Ms Cheptilak added that the community also lacks health centers and good roads. “As leaders, we also lack transport means which can help us to do follow-ups on the FGM practices and child marriages in those areas,” She added.
Ms Suzan Adimo, an officer in charge of the Child and Family Protection unit at the district, said that for a period of ten years she has been working in the Amudat district, the issue of early marriage has been increasing day by day.
“In a month we can receive more than five cases of child marriage and mostly these girls are given out to men who are very old because parents only look at wealth as a priority,” Ms Adimo said.
Ms Adimo said that after government intervention, the culprits now traffic girls to nearby villages in Kenya for circumcision and this makes it harder to trace them since most people do not want to speak up. However, she said they discover cases from the hospitals when they go to give birth.
“They used to go for celebrations openly but now they changed the system, they could go for a Youth conference yet they are going for circumcision and they come back when the wounds have already healed,” she added.
She called on the Government to increase security at border points in order to eliminate unnecessary movements.
Like Ms Cheptiak, Mr Julius Lokori, the district councilor of Losidok sub-county said that they have also tried to sensitize the public about the negative impact of two vices but in vain. As district councilor, every week he receives about 8 cases of child marriage and 2 cases of FGM.
“There are some deep villages which are very far from the centers and have no roads, neither government project nor NGOs projects have ever reached there and there are so many cases of FGM and child marriage,”
NGOs like AAIU have established centers and programs in the district to fight FGM and child marriage in the community however they also said that the vices still exist amidst their struggles against them.
Mr. Emmanuel Ochieng, the Legal officer with ActionAid International Uganda, (AAIU) a civil society organization that aims at fighting for human rights, advocates for full implementation of UPE and USE education policy in Amudat district which he believes will increase awareness about the vices `
`Education system is extremely poor in the district. Today there are a number of sub-counties with no primary and secondary schools. There were only two secondary schools in the whole district not until recently when they established another seed secondary school which has very small enrolment. So, children are extremely idle,” Mr Ochieng added
FGM is a cultural ritual among the Pokot and Sabiny in Eastern Uganda. The government banned the practice in 2020 under the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act 2010, after viewing its negative impact on girls and women.
The practice is mostly done to adolescent girls between the ages of 14 to 15 among Pokot communities and 17 to 19 among the Sabiny.
This ritual according to locals is done as a celebration for the readiness of the girls to get married.
