What the leaders say   By Frederick Womakuyu   Waiting on the shores of River Bukwo for the Bukwo district LC5 boss Nelson Chelimo, one question ringing in my mind is: What is your stand on the anti-Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) law? Do you think it was people-driven or forced onto the people? From the interviews I had with the constituents, some people still support FGM and so the politicians of Bukwo, unlike in Kapchorwa district, are not sensitising the people about the law because they do not want to lose votes. In December 2009, Parliament outlawed FGM in Uganda. The law is meant to consolidate the sensitisation and education campaigns against FGM initiated by civil society groups in the early 1990s, which have helped to reduce FGM cases from about 90% to less than 1% today, according to the Government. Chelimo says: “As an individual, I support the law because I know the consequences of FGM. It has hindered the education of girls because many get married immediately after the practice.” Chelimo adds that when the people of Bukwo see the same donors who are campaigning to have FGM eliminated, promote homosexuality as a human right, a practice hated by his people, they ask: “Is FGM worse than homosexuality?” “They see this is a contradiction and they are ready to die for their culture,” Chelimo explains. He also claims that his people were not consulted before the Bill was passed. “That is why they are vowing to defeat it. People believe this is their culture, but I think they need to be educated about why FGM is bad,” he says. Chelimo accuses Educative and Community Health project (REACH), an NGO against FGM, for not educating the people. “REACH was given funds by some donors to sensitise people, but they were only interested in the money. They also promised scholarships to girls who denounce FGM and alternative income for surgeons. They never delivered and people are disappointed.” Asked whether he himself sensitises people about FGM, Chelimo claims that whenever he goes to the churches and village seminars, he tells people to abandon FGM. He affirms that despite his people’s support for FGM, under his leadership, the district council is moving from one village to another to sensitise the people. “People everywhere are saying that FGM is harmful. We need to ask ourselves what the value of FGM is to us. In fact, I do not even know why we practise FGM. I believe FGM will end if the girls are educated and the surgeons and mentors economically empowered. Some people practise it because of economic gains,” he says. Beatrice Chelangat, the director of REACH ,defends her NGO, saying: “We are doing our part but politicians are failing us. They don’t want to talk about eliminating FGM because they fear losing votes. We have been sensitising people since the 1990s and we still do.” Chelangat says in the 1990s, only 10% of the girls in Sebei region completed primary education and less than 7% completed secondary education. There were none in University.   “But to date, we have more than 300 girls in university.” Chelangat adds that before the Bill was tabled, REACH and MPs gathered people’s views from all FGM-practising districts. Johnson Toskin, the Kongasis County MP, agrees. He says whenever any law is made in the country, there are people who will oppose it. “The law is to curb criminals and it is only natural that they will not support it. I took part in the consultation and our people were consulted. Although it is never reported in the media, some girls are actually forced by their parents to undergo FGM. The law will protect such girls.” Kapchorwa district chairman, Nelson Chelimo, adds: “We are protecting our daughters and mothers. My district council passed an ordinance outlawing FGM. We welcome the national law because it will consolidate the gains we have made in eradicating FGM.” He adds that the local council is working with the Police and the people to arrest culprits. For the moment, he says, they are sensitising people about the new law. “This is to consolidate the education and sensitisation campaigns we started in the 1990s. FGM has reduced in Kapchorwa by almost 90%,” he says. Chelimo says FGM has been eradicated in almost all the 16 sub-counties of Kapchorwa district, except in the two sub-counties of Benet and Kwany. Chelimo also says Bukwo district continues to practise FGM because of the low levels of illiteracy and the persistence of the people to follow the 1989 Kapchorwa by-law, making FGM optional. Dr. Arapkissa Yekko, MP Kween County, Kapchorwa, says he started campaigns to end FGM even before the 1989 by-law. “I worked in Sebei region for over 30 years as a doctor. I treated many mutilated girls with complications ranging from pain, bleeding and infections. The by-law was made by selfish men. We shall enforce the law and protect our girls and mothers,” he explains. Kapchorwa district speaker, Moses Mwanga, agrees. He says in December 2010, a time when girls are likely to be mutilated, they will enforce the law to send a clear message to FGM promoters that the practice is not good and it violates women’s rights. “Before the law, we had started getting concerned about FGM. People were bleeding to death and others were getting paralysed. We noticed that there are notorious people who are doing FGM for commercial purposes. These guys have daughters but they don’t mutilate them and they mutilate other people’s girls. The law will stop them,” Mwanga says. Justine Kasule, the Woman MP, Bugiri district, says the people in her area are denouncing FGM completely. “When I consulted my people, they supported the law. We engaged everyone including the girls and the surgeons. The girls asked for education and the surgeons want income.” She adds that they have given some girls scholarships to study in various schools and they have also given the surgeons and mentors income-generating activities to survive on.