President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday shared a memory of his father, the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, which most people never knew.
Speaking at State House Nairobi, Uhuru revealed that the country’s founding father used to oversee female circumcision that took place in his Agikuyu community during the period Kenya was colonised by the British.
This, he said, was what was accepted at the time but was quick to add that the country is now at a different place and such activities (Female Genital Mutilation) should not be allowed to continue.
“Mimi nataka kushukuru sana wazee, unajuwa mambo mengine ni ngumu, mambo mengine hatutaki kuongea. Mambo mengine tumezaliwa na wazazi na walituambia umuhimu wa mambo ambayo walikuwa wanafanya. Na mimi ni mtu naheshimu sana wazee wetu, na sana sana utamaduni wetu. Lakini kama kitu ingine tunafika wakati na tunajiambia ya kwamba vile binadamu anaendelea kuwa more exposed, kuna mambo mengine tunasema hii haifai,” said Uhuru.
He adds: “lakini kuna kitu Babangu alifanya kwa sababu wakati huo ilikuwa yafaa, lakini sio kusema lazima mimi niifanye. Wajuwa ni vizuri watu kusema ukweli babangu alikuwa anasimamia hii mambo sana wakati yake. Lakini wakati huo walikuwa wanasimamia kwa kuwa walikuwa wanasema Mzungu amekuja kutunyanganya utamaduni wetu, lakini sasa tuko na uhuru wetu, sasa nguvu ni zetu.”
The Head of State was addressing a forum on the Female Genital Mutilation Report attended by community elders from 22 affected counties.
The report shockingly revealed that an estimated 9.3 million girls in Kenya have undergone the cut.
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