Daniel Edyegu And Olandason Wanyama
2 July 2009
Kampala — A law against female circumcision will soon be enacted, President Yoweri Museveni has said.
Launching a campaign against female genital mutilation in Nakapiripirit in Karamoja, Museveni described the practice among the Sabiny and Pokot communities as brutal and backward.
"God knew what he was doing when he created us. Do you think you are more intelligent than God?" he asked, drawing laughter from the crowd attending the occasion.
"Are you the ones who made the woman the way she is? Can you even make an inch of that part you cut? If God did his engineering, who are you to destroy it?"
He explained that every part of the human body has its function. "There is no part of a human being that is useless. When I injured my figure while doing exercises, I spent weeks without doing my work normally. Now you, people, interfere with God's work."
He dismissed the argument that female circumcision is part of the culture of the Karimojong.
"I support culture. That is why I restored the kingdoms. But you must support culture that is useful and based on scientific information."
He called the practice dangerous, not only to women but also to new-born babies who risk dying because of prolonged labour, caused by the destruction of the elastic mechanism.
Some women have become paralysed while others have died due to female circumcision, he noted.
"I use spectacles for cutting my nails. But these old women who have no spectacles cut even other parts, causing harm to the victims."
Pointing at a 44-year-old crippled woman, who was circumcised in 1976 in Kapchorwa, he said: "See that lady on the wheelchair, she is a victim of the bad practice."
The President pledged to support an alternative source of income for women who earn a living by circumcising girls. He told the cheering crowd that he skipped the AU summit in Sirte, Libya, to launch the campaign.
Accompanied by his wife, Janet, who is also the state minister for Karamoja affairs, Museveni launched the drive at Amudat Senior Secondary School on Wednesday.
The ceremony was also attended by members of the Pokot community of Kenya, led by the Minister of Information, Samuel Paghiso.
The President was pleased to note that the disarmament exercise in Karamoja was on course. He, however, called on the Kenyan authorities to work together with Uganda to get rid of illegal guns.
He said a lot of resources, including sniffer dogs, were available to unearth hidden weapons.
On elevating Amudat to district status, Museveni said he supports the move because of language complications but he cautioned against fighting over boundaries.
He explained that the master plan for the development of Karamoja entails the provision of water for people and animals, roads, electricity, as well as promoting food security by providing quick maturing seeds and farm inputs.
Mrs. Museveni thanked the people of Nakapiripirit for their role in the disarmament exercise and ending cattle rustling.
"I am proud to belong to a generation of East Africans who are ending the shameful practice of cattle rustling and killing people in the region," she said.
She thanked women leaders for their tireless efforts in stopping the "terrible practice of female genital mutilation".
Deputy Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga pledged to enact the law banning the practice and called on the Kenyan officials to join hands in implementing the ban.
The colourful ceremony also saw 300 Pokot and Sabiny girls take an oath never to give in to female circumcision.
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Your comments are completely ridiculous. Female Genital mutilation is a horrible crime that should be outlawed worldwide. God created women the way they are WITH all their bits for a reason, if it was not necessary or needed god would not have given in to us! Not only does it cause loss of sensations it can cause serious health issues and if not properly treated infection and death. OUTLAW FEMALE CIRCUMCISION!
Chokora,
There is absolutely no merit to your "arguing". Female circumcision is an abomination and president Museveni's effort, if continued and implemented, might very well be a succesful one.
He does address the traditionalists arguments and starts a dialog based on facts which is the way to deal with an unscientific, horrid and harmfull tradtion. You can, should you feel like being challenged, read more att www.nzega.wordpress.com.
Your comparisons are ridiculous. There is no positive gain to female circumcision, even the mildest variety. In male circumcision, there is no loss of sensation or function (or it would have ended quickly), and there is the possible gain of resistance to HIV. Female circumcision causes loss of sensation - which men may regard as good only if they despise their wives - and causes health problems during menses, during pregnancy, and in childbirth. How can a man wish to cripple the woman who would give him heirs, even if he were indifferent to every concern about her comfort and health? How could he wish to jeopardize the birth of a son? This is done only because men imagine that women are as profligate as men are, and would readily have sex with any man in sight.
"Some women have become paralysed while others have died due to female circumcision, he noted."
Should such anecdotes form a basis for disrupting a people's way of life?
What would Museveni sy about the following::
1) Thousands of otherwise health people contract diseases that kill them.
Museveni: We must have a law outlawing hospitals.
.
2) Some (in fact half of the) marriages in USA break up in less that 7 years.
M: Marriage must be outlawed.
.
3) Some/Most murderers in USA are Christians.
M: Christianity must be outlawed.
.
4) In Kenya and in USA, some men have become paralysed while others have died due infection resulting from to male circumcision. M: Male circumcision must be outlawed.
Museveni, what is wrong with male or female circumcision - if done under hygienic conditions (and under local anesthesia for cowards like Museveni)?
.
We wish that Museveni would stop trying to look smart.
Mas murderers in Africa, like Museveni, get into power, not by the brilliance of their ideas or their popularity with the masses, but by the gun. And they stay there by being puppets of foreign plunderers.