Morans vow to fight female circumcision

As the Day of the African Child was marked across the globe at the weekend, morans in Magadi, Kajiado West, promised to fight female genital mutilation (FGM).

The morans under the umbrella of Enlightened Youth Group brought hundreds of members of the Maasai community together at an event, where they declared to fight against FGM.

They said they had been enlightened and now join other stakeholders in the fight against the retrogressive culture.

According to the chairman of the group, Jeremiah ole Kutanya, the initiative by 15 morans had so far brought on board more than one hundred morans despite challenges.

He told The Metropolitan that they had a change of heart following sensitisation by various groups. “We realised that our people have been lagging behind because of this retrogressive culture, that is why we decided to form the group to enlighten them,” said Kutanya.

“In the past, morans have been perceived to hamper the fight against female genital mutilation by refusing to marry uncircumcised girls. They have also been known to torment and harass uncircumcised girls, fueling the vice,” he added.

Kutanya said on the other hand the cut has been a major challenge to the Maasai girl, denying them a chance to acquire education and prompting early marriages.