Bukwo, Kapchorwa residents  divided over anti-FGM bill   By Frederick Womakuyu   As we approached her, Sunday Kokop could not recognise us, but as she prepared seats for us, her memory came back. She recalled meeting us a year ago, when we visited the region doing research on the number of girls who had undergone Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). In 2008, about 400 girls were mutilated in the districts of Bukwo and Kapchorwa, eastern Uganda. Kokop, a traditional ‘surgeon’, cut over 90 girls that year. FGM is the practice where a woman’s partial or entire genitalia are cut to initiate her from childhood to adulthood. In Uganda, it is practised in the eastern districts of Bugiri, Bukwo, Kapchorwa and Amudat by the Sabiny and Pokot. According to the World Health Organisation, women may experience chronic pain, excessive bleeding, chronic pelvic infections, obstructed labour during childbirth and disability. Others may develop cysts, abscesses and genital ulcers, excessive scar tissue, infection of the reproductive system, decreased sexual enjoyment and psychological consequences, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Last year, Parliament outlawed the practice, but the President has not yet signed the law, though. In Bukwo, a by-law was passed by the district council of Kapchorwa in 1989, making the practice optional. Bukwo was still a county. The Kapchorwa district chairman, Nelson Chelimo, says prior to this, the council had passed a by-law in 1988, making FGM compulsory. But when many people opposed it, they made it optional.   Sophie Chelangat and Juliet Chebet of Bukwo do not support the law In 2009, the Kapchorwa district council passed an ordinance outlawing FGM. However, the residents of Kapchorwa are divided over the bill passed by Parliament. Beatrice Chelangat, the director of Reproductive, Educative and Community Health project (REACH), an NGO spearheading the campaigns to eliminate FGM in the region, says the low levels of girl education in Bukwo are to blame. “A girl who has completed a full course of primary education or reached form four, is more likely to denounce the practice,” she says. According to the Bukwo education office, about 63% of the people are literate and of these, only 10% are female. Nelson Chelimo, a resident of Kapchorwa says sensitisation activities have been centred in Kapchorwa, therefore, the low level of awareness about FGM and education in Bukwo.   Bukwo residents reject law Kokop a widow, says she earns sh80,000 per girl she cuts. “I have heard about the law but I don’t know the contents. I was given a letter by REACH to attend a consultation meeting, but when I went, I stayed for two hours without seeing anybody. I was hungry so I left.” Kokop says come December 2010, she will cut over 100 girls in Suam sub-county. “FGM is a cultural rite here. The girls come looking for me. Nowadays we do it in the bush or at night and in the morning the girls put on skirts and nobody suspects. The parents of the girls hire armed men to protect me. “Even if there is a law, I will continue cutting the girls. A few years ago, we agreed with REACH that they give me two cows for milk, two bulls to plough my farm and build me a permanent house. But 10 years down the road, there is nothing to show.” There are also allegations that the people were promised a girls’ school, but to date, there is nothing. Chelangat confirms the claims, but says: “We receive only sh100m annually from our donors to fund all our activities. We have to pay salaries as well as meet field costs. This is too small. The Government has given us some money to build a school in Kapchorwa for girls,” she says. The residents of Bukwo feel they have been marginalised by Kapchorwa district. “People are using us to make money and we don’t benefit. The people implementing the project are giving scholarships to their daughters of Kapchorwa. Why should we accept the law yet we are getting nothing?” asks Martin Chemonges, LC1, Kwirot village. Sophie Chelangat, 20, a young woman who underwent FGM in 2008, says Parliament is forcing the law onto the Sabiny people. “FGM has no harmful effects. When I was cut, I was pregnant but I delivered normally without problems. We shall not stop it,” she says. Chelangat, a mother of four daughters, who got married at 12, says if her daughters ask, she will circumcise them. Supporting her argument, 60-year-old Alice Kokop, the mentor who initiates the girls into the FGM ritual, says: “We found the culture there. Who are these MPs to terminate it? There are men marrying men and some say it is a human right. Is this better than FGM?” she argues. However, she requests the Government to give her an alternative source of income so that she abandons the cutting. Kokop says she earns sh80,000 for every girl she mentors. Carol Chemutai, who was cut by Kokop in 1980, says: “Even though they are planning to arrest us, we shall circumcise girls this year. I have produced nine children and have never experienced any birth or other health complications. “If any politician supports the law, we shall not vote them,” Chemutai warns. Stephen Chelimo, 75, says: “It is impossible to impose a law on culture. The people of Sebei need education and sensitisation and with time, the practice will die. In the past, we used to remove two front teeth from every child’s mouth, but that died.” Rachel Cherop, 16, an S.3 student at Kabuyoyoni High School, who is against FGM, says: “Our teachers at school told us that Parliament has made FGM optional. Back in the villages, there is no sensitisation and people are promising to cut girls this year.”   Kapchorwa welcomes the law Moses Musobo, 30, a resident of Sipi sub-county, says the law was long overdue. “FGM has retarded development in Sebei. In the past, when many girls were mutilated, few went beyond primary and we had none at university. But today, there are so many girls who have graduated and are formally married.” Irene Chemutai, 17, a student of Gamatui Girls School, who denounced FGM, says the practice is cruel and the law will curb the people who force girls into FGM. Stephen Seyoka, 80, of Kween County, who is also against FGM, says it deprived his nine daughters of an education. “When I allowed my girls to get circumcised, the next step I took was to marry them off to get bride price. I advise the people of Sebei to take this chance and embrace the law — it will save them.” Annet Wegosasa, 45, says FGM is a violation of a woman’s rights. “I was forced to get cut by my father. Since that time, I have lost my sexual sensation and I will never forgive myself. I support that law because I don’t want my young daughters to get into the same situation,” she explains. Chelangat says they have not carried out sensitisation on the new law because the President has not signed the dotted line. “We request the President to sign the law immediately so that we start our activities. December 2010 is an FGM year and we are already behind schedule. We also request for more funds to carry out sensitisation and education,” she adds.