Is circumcision a rite because of lack of water?

Circumcision remains a most contentious practice since its recorded introduction in Egypt, about 2,400 years ago, and attracts diametrically conflicting positions, between those who eschew the practice, and those who don’t.

Though three narratives are popularly used to explain circumcision — medical, religious, and cultural — more as validators than root causes, circumcision debates routinely attract ethno-cultural and political profiling, religious stereo-typing, and notably, instances of intellectual gerrymandering.

The theory of circumcision however submits that circumcision was caused by a single dynamic- lack of fresh water- and subsequently the unhygienic conditions arising from irregular ablution.

Irregular ablution causes, bad odour, thrush, cystitis, and other poor sanitation infections, which diminish libidos and stifle sexual concert with the main malefactors being unwashed and accumulated smegma, or poorly managed menstruation.

Relatedly, non-circumcising groups are commonly settled around large fresh water bodies, as those which practice circumcision are settled far from fresh water bodies.

Indeed, the prescription of mid-teen-age for circumcision is preemptively designed, to prepare teens for healthy relationships devoid of stigmatising claims of uncleanliness or sexual deficiency.

Likewise, associating circumcision with courage is a social construct premeditated to forestall high incidences of fleeing surgery without anesthesia, as well as to obligate compliance.

Regular sunshine is another critical factor. It is vital to the production of Melanocyte Stimulating Hormones and feel good neurotransmitters, dopamine and serotonin, which boost sexual appetite and elevate reproduction.

As such, dwellers in areas with regular sunshine are likely to be more sexually driven than their counterparts in colder regions, a more credible account for higher incidences of HIV-Aids in sunnier areas than the incredible WHO linkage of the foreskin to the spread of HIV-Aids.

Furthermore, cold weather causes shrinking of the penile shaft, impeding sexual appetite and fulfillment, a cocktail of factors possibly accounting for the instances of heavy alcohol consumption and high crime rates, especially crimes of passion, common to these areas, as manifestations of sexual frustration.

The practice of circumcision in two neighbouring nations, Uganda and Kenya, vividly illustrate the connection between water and circumcision.

Uganda covers 241,139Km2, with 44 000Km2 being under open water or swampland, through 24 lakes and 18 rivers. Of the 63 communities, only two circumcises, Sabiny and Bagisu. Both are in Mt Elgon, a distance away from any major natural fresh water body.

Even in the highlands of Western Uganda, none of the communities within the Rwenzururu mountain ranges circumcise, because their water supply is guaranteed by 12 lakes and eight rivers.

This scenario sharply contrasts with that of Kenya. Kenya covers about 580,367 km2 of land, with only 11,227 km2 being under natural water bodies. Of her total 10 rivers and 9 lakes, fossssswur are either alkaline or saline, Elementaita, Bogoria, Magadi, and Nakuru.

No wonder, only three of the nearly 70 communities in Kenya — Luo, Turkana and Itesot do not circumcise — an almost reverse position to Uganda. All are settled in North Rift Valley and Lake Victoria basins — locations of the main natural fresh water bodies in Kenya — even though the Itesot also fall within the vast Kyoga swampland stretching from Usuk in Uganda to Western Kenya.

To North Africa — harsh desert conditions of the Sahara compel circumcision; just as in Southern Africa — Kalahari Desert — situations re-affirming the central role of water in circumcision.

So for all the 2,400 year controversy about the root causes of circumcision, it is water that ultimately explains why some communities practice circumcision and why others do not.

Ogot is Head of Research, Information and Advocacy at Citizens Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda.

Photo: Courtesy