A law against female circumcision will soon be enacted in Uganda, 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, writes Ugandan daily “The New Vision” Thursday.
– 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?, Museveni noted.
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 Gods 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, aying: – 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 African Union summit in Sirte, Libya, to launch the campaign.
The President was accompanied by his wife, Janet, who is also the state minister for Karamoja affairs.
