FORWARDED BY LEO ODERA OMOLO
Just as I thought the whole debate about circumcision had died, I’m again taken aback after reading the Daily Nation that plans are a foot to have some expert in Kisumu to educate the Luos about the values of circumcision. Studies opposing the removal of the foreskin are overwhelming; and, indeed, a considerable number of experts in medicine and social scientists from Luoland have fiercely refuted the claims that circumcision can help in the prevention of HIV. In their refutations, they have cited cases of countries (e.g South Africa, Botswana, etc.) where circumcision has been part of the culture yet people are still dying in droves due to HIV/AIDs. This is consistent with studies that found circumcised individuals to be more vulnerable to the disease.
Despite our good intentions to inject a balanced and fair argument to help our leaders make some informed decision before rushing to sanction the chopping off of their kinsmen’s foreskin, we are rather appalled by the interest it has generated among Luo leaders. It’s even disappointing that no MP in Luoland has come out to challenge this awkward practice as if there is no freedom for divergent opinion. I read that the experts are going to educate the Luos about circumcision. Well, it’s good for the Luos to become ‘boys’. However, who are these experts? Will the organizers accord other experts with divergent views also an opportunity to educate the Luos about the dangers of circumcision? It would be very sad if we end up with an assemblage of people reading from the same script.
Many Kenyans especially from the Luo extraction are not happy with the whole idea, or rather, the obsession with circumcision in Luoland. Actually this is the wrong package we were expecting in Luoland. I want to state here very clearly that circumcision is not one of our priorities at the moment. Let me appeal to the PM to consider transforming this ‘consultative meeting for circumcision’ to ‘a consultative meeting for poverty eradication in Luoland’. Everyone will tell you that the youths in Nyanza need jobs, not circumcision. This is the only thing that will appeal to the people of Luoland. Our professionals in Luoland need government appointments in some of the parastatals just like other leaders in other communities have done to their people. What is most disturbing is that Luoland continue to sink into deep poverty due to misplaced priorities. We cannot continue giving people excuses year in, year out yet in the campaigns we promise them heaven. It’s time the leadership in Luoland fully address the plight of the Luos in the current political dispensation.
Dr. Otieno Mbare is a research fellow at Ã…bo Akademi University and Senior Lecturer at the Turku University of Applied Sciences
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Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2008 02:11:40 -0700 (PDT)
From: Leo Odera Omolo
Subject: The Obsession with Circumcision