Do you prefer traditional or medical circumcision?Society and culture are like twins, members often like to reflect themselves in the practices that they conduct as tradition. This acts are so deeply rooted in some people that at times of opinion difference may lead to serious chaos
Police in Migori County on Wednesday arrested several youth for allegedly attacking the area chief at his home and demanding that his two sons be circumcised traditionally.
Confirming the incident, Migori County Police Commander Joseph Nthenge said the youth from Kegonga village accused the chief of negating the community culture by taking his children through modern medical circumcision instead of the ‘cultural’ way.
They demanded that the two boys be handed over to the village elders to take them through the cultural circumcision method.
Mr. Nthenge said several youth who were part of the group that stormed the chief’s home are in police custody awaiting arraignment in court on Thursday.
The county police boss termed the attack on the local administrator who made a personal decision to have his children undergo modern medical circumcision as uncalled for.
He added that the suspects will serve as examples to the many youth in the region who have reportedly been harassing people undergoing circumcision in medical facilities.
In the modern context in East Africa, the physical element of male circumcision remains (in the societies that have historically practiced it) but without most of the other accompanying rites, context, and programs.
For many, the operation is now performed in private on one individual, in a hospital or doctor’s office. Anesthesia is often used in such settings.
There are tribes, however, that do not accept this modernized practice. They insist on circumcision in a group ceremony, and a test of courage at the banks of a river.
In traditional circumcision, the men of Africa enjoy “benefits” such as young men become members of the warrior class, and are free to date and marry. The graduates became a fraternity which serve together, and continued to have mutual obligation to each other for life.
However in traditional circumcisions, often the same knife is used for many initiates.This is thought to contribute to the spread of HIV and is therefore not recommended.