A Kenyan police officer paid the ultimate sacrifice in a faceoff with a youth gang, occurring shortly after successfully rescuing survivors of female genital mutilation (FGM).
Activists and community leaders, as reported by Africa Today News, New York, strongly denounced the killing, labeling it a regressive setback in the ongoing battle against the practice’s eradication in the nation.
Elgeyo Marakwet county, located in the Rift Valley region, faced turmoil as law enforcement transported girls who underwent an illegal procedure to the hospital. The situation escalated when a mob of young men attacked a police station, ultimately stoning Cpl Mushote Boma to death.
‘Angry youth raided the police post in a bid to get the girls, who had been rescued by police after they were genitally mutilated, where they overpowered the officer who was on duty and stoned him to death before burning his body using a mattress,’ reported the government-owned Kenya news agency.
County Police Commander Peter Mulinge reported that the six girls are currently undergoing recovery at a local hospital.
The illegal practice of female genital mutilation, known as “the cut,” continues in Kenya, particularly during school holidays, with women utilizing rudimentary methods and tools. While activists opposing FGM face attacks, assaults on law enforcement officers are seldom reported.
‘It is shocking and disheartening that in the 21st century we can kill a police officer rescuing girls undergoing the inhumane act,” said Tony Mwebia, founder and executive director of the not-for-profit Men End FGM Foundation that aims to rally men and boys against FGM and child marriages.’
‘Were these men who killed the policeman aware of why they were protecting the backward culture? Do they have any idea of the harm caused by the cut?’
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Mwebia, at the helm of an organization that has trained almost 500 male champions in regions with FGM prevalence, observes that men display discomfort when presented with videos of the cut—a rite traditionally assumed to be in their favor.
‘They are told the cut makes women more mature and avoid promiscuity. They are also told that they will lose any respect within the community by marrying an uncut woman. That is why they will kill anyone, including a policeman, who interferes with the cut,’ Mwebia said.
Mwebia was attacked by another group of men in Kuria in December 2016 after he and a colleague were suspected of filming a street parade of girls undergoing the cut.
A local administrator, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, said the attack on law enforcement officers will embolden.
‘Killing a police officer in the name of FGM worries me,’ he said. ‘We know FGM is illegal in Kenya, but just enforcing the law without adequate public sensitisation against the vice will have little success. There must be a robust conversation with local people if we are to stem the FGM tide in the region.’
As reported by The Nation newspaper, approximately 70 girls were rescued by the police, while Viola Cherono, a human rights activist in the region, revealed that up to 500 girls had gathered in the forest to undergo the practice.
Close to Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, roadside pharmacies often moonlight as FGM clinics, a trend observed across the nation, especially in Kisii county.
‘Girls are being cut every day in the Endo and Embobut wards. The people in Embobut are very wild and if you are an activist or the police, they will come and get you,’ she told the paper.
Bernadette Loloju, Chief Executive Officer of the Anti-FGM Board in Kenya, referred to the killing as “an isolated incident beyond human thinking.” She emphasized that it shouldn’t be the sole yardstick for measuring the effectiveness of the fight against the practice.
‘Cases of FGM have come down in communities that were strongly for the cut, mainly because girls have come out to say no,’ said Loloju.
‘Although women are the perpetrators of the cut, we continue to engage the elders who are the cultural gatekeepers. These are the men who are shocked when they see videos of how FGM is done.’
Mwebia said the war against FGM will only be won if “we don’t waste resources in conferences but change our strategies”.
‘There is political goodwill, right from the country’s top leadership. The silence from men will be the biggest barrier.’