Metro

Legislation to outlaw female genital mutilation rejected by Gambian parliament

Published

5 months ago

July 16, 2024

Gambian Parliament Speaker, Fabakary Tombong Jatta, has announced that the parliament voted down every provision of a bill that would have repealed the country’s ban on female genital mutilation on Monday.

For the first time in the history of the West African nation, a bill to repeal the ban divided villages, families, and the parliament over female genital mutilation.

Almaneh Gibba, the legislator who brought the idea to parliament, claimed he was defending religious and cultural rights in the nation with a majority of Muslims, where female genital mutilation is common and deeply ingrained. Numerous Islamic academics contest his claims.

According to the World Health Organization, female genital mutilation has no health benefits and can result in severe bleeding, shock, mental health issues, and even death.

With just five of the 53 MPs voting against the bill, it passed a second reading in March. This raised concerns among advocates for human rights that the Gambia would be the first country to remove a ban on the practice.

However, the health and gender affairs committees of the parliament released a joint report on July 8 suggesting that Gambia keep the ban in place following weeks of public hearings.

The report was approved by lawmakers by a vote of 35 to 17 with 2 abstentions. Political experts claimed they might have been persuaded by medical professionals’ and survivors’ statements regarding the negative effects of FGM.

Before the third and final reading of the measure, which is set for July 24, Parliament again voted on Monday on each of the bill’s sections.

Each clause received about thirty votes against it, which forced Jatta to halt the bill’s advancement to the final reading.

“The (National) Assembly cannot be engaged in such a futile exercise as to allow the bill to proceed to a third reading,” Jatta said after the votes. “The bill is rejected and the legislative process exhausted.”
Gibba said he could not immediately comment because the parliamentary session was ongoing.

Anti-FGM activist Fatou Baldeh, who was cut when she was 8, said she was relieved but also disappointed the bill had been considered in the first place.

“I am not celebrating for the fact that our women and girls’ lives were put on the line, that made me sad,” Baldeh said.

According to Gambian legal professor Satang Nabaneh, the bill’s rejection demonstrated Gambia’s adherence to its international and human rights commitments.

The government disputes the claims made by anti-FGM activists that the 2015 law outlawing the practice has not been adequately implemented.

Gibba introduced the repeal bill in response to the first and only conviction of three mothers found guilty of slashing eight baby girls in 2023.

Related Topics:Featured Gambia inflation Nigeria

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Metro

Zambia: FOX report highlights persistent media harassment, calls for reforms

Published

4 hours ago

December 18, 2024

Isaac Dachen

A new Freedom of Expression (FOX) report by the Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia, has raised concerns over what it describes as the continued harassment of media professionals in the country despite collective efforts to safeguard freedom of expression.

The FOX Report serves as a call to action for all stakeholders to create a safer and more enabling environment for the media to operate without fear or intimidation.

Chairperson of the MISA-Zambia Board, Lorraine Mwanza, who raised the concerns while launching the report on Tuesday at the Pamodzi Hotel in Lusaka, highlighted that journalists and media practitioners in the country still faced intimidation, censorship, and violence for fulfilling their role of informing the public.

“The harassment of media professionals is a stark reminder of the threats posed to democratic values and the fundamental rights to seek, receive, and impart information without fear or hindrance,” Mwanza said.

She expressed solidarity with those who are targets of attack, and reaffirmed MISA’s commitment to defending journalists’ rights and protecting the integrity of the profession.

Mwanza further called on the government to address barriers preventing journalists from accessing public officials, emphasizing that public officials were custodians of critical information necessary for informed decision-making.

“When citizens have access to government data, they can better understand policies, monitor public spending, and advocate for change in their communities,” Mwanza noted.

She also appealed for the review and repeal of laws that undermine democracy, stressing the importance of enacting legislation that guarantees media freedom, freedom of expression, and digital rights, and commended the government for responding to calls from civil society organizations to withdraw the controversial Cyber Bills from Parliament.

Ministry of Information and Media Permanent Secretary, Thabo Kawana, in a speech read by Ministry Director Mordern Mayembe, reaffirmed government’s commitment to upholding media freedom and freedom of expression in Zambia.

Metro

Nigeria: 614,937 killed, 2.2m abducted in 1 year— Report

Published

13 hours ago

December 18, 2024

Isaac Dachen

A new report released on Tuesday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that over 614,937 Nigerians were killed and 2,235,954 others kidnapped across the country in one year between May 2023 and April 2024.

The NBS report, titled, “The Crime Experienced and Security Perception Survey (CESPS) 2024”, says based on the surveys conducted between May 2023 and April 2024, the 2.2 million Nigerians who were kidnapped across the country paid a whopping N2.2 trillion as ransom, with an average amount of N2.7 million per incident.

The report also disclosed that murder rate was highest in rural areas with 335,827 incidents and 279,110 in urban areas.

A zone-by-zone analysis of the report showed that the North-West had the highest murder cases of 206,030, followed by the North-East which stood at 188,992, while the least was recorded in the South-West at 15,693.

The report also revealed about seven in 10 households reported murder cases to the police nationwide with 33 per cent of households responding that the killer was an unknown person, and 23.4 per cent confirmed that the murderer was a member of the household; while 1.0 per cent reported that the murderer was either a spouse or a lover.

The report said 1,668,104 persons were kidnapped in rural areas and 567,850 in urban areas with the North-West having the highest cases of kidnapping with 1,420,307 abducted, followed by the North-Central with 317,837 and the South-East at 110,432.

“Of the estimated amount of N2.2 trillion payments to free victims, the North-West reported the highest ransom paid with N1.2 trillion; while the South-East was the least with N85.4 billion.

“Disaggregated by zones, the North-Central reported the highest proportion of payment of ransom at 83.4 per cent, followed by North-East at 78.6 per cent.

“Households in urban areas paid an average of N3.7 million compared to N2.3 million in rural areas,” the report stated.

It added that about 91 per cent of kidnapping incidents were done for ransom in the form of money, goods or other benefits.

“While 2.4 per cent of cases were attributed to political, criminal, or terrorist objectives; 2.1 per cent were linked to personal or family disputes. Custody disputes accounted for 0.5 per cent of cases,” the report said.