Rashid Muzungyo
24 July 2003
Kampala — PARLIAMENT is to enact a law banning female genital mutilation, Kapchorwa (Woman) MP Gertrude Kulany said recently.
She said a Bill seeking to incriminate persons abetting the practice would be introduced in Parliament.
Kulany, who made the revelation while commissioning a four-classroom block for Siron Primary School that was constructed with funding from the local government development project, said she would introduce the bill.
Kulany, who had just returned from a global conference in Cairo, Egypt, that resolved to ban the practice, said governments have been urged to implement the resolution seeking to protect women's rights.
"It will now be criminal for somebody to abet, intimidate or force women and girls to undergo this practice," the MP said.
"We are going to start the process by introducing a bill in Parliament to legalise the whole thing," Kulany, who was flanked by the LC5 chairman, Nelson Chelimo and district education officer Mike Cheptoek, said.
"We are going to create sources of funds to sensitise MPs and all people to understand the effects of the practice and therefore it will be criminal to subject somebody to it," Kulany, who has been agitating for a ban of the practice cherished by Sabin and Pokot communities, added.
She said the process that would take a period of two years, would bring an end to the violation of women and children's rights among the Sabiny and Pokot.
Between 500-600 women and girls in Kapchorwa are mutilated annually despite United Nations efforts in sensitising the people about the harmful effects of the practice.
Several NGOs, including the Family Planning Association of Uganda and the reproductive educative and community health project, have been involved in the sensitisation.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2003 New Vision. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
