Police in Livingstone have arrested two organizers of a circumcision camp, commonly known as Mukanda, for allegedly taking children into the initiation camp illegally.
Kenneth Makai, 67, of Mwandi Township, and Kays Kapalu, 46, of ZECCO Township, have also been accused of criminal trespass on a portion of land near Nakatindi Cemetery, which belongs to the Livingstone City Council.
According to a statement from Southern Province Police Deputy Commanding Officer Moono Namalongo, the two men set up the Mbunda Circumcision Camp on June 29, 2023. The camp has been operational for 12 days. Namalongo added that several parents and guardians have accused the men of taking their children into the camp without their knowledge or consent.
In a related development, Office of the President Gender Division Permanent Secretary Mainga Kabika has condemned the Mukanda gathering in Livingstone. Mrs. Kabika stated that the gathering was organized by unscrupulous individuals who falsely claimed to have the endorsement of the Zambezi Royal Establishment.
Mrs. Kabika emphasized that performing harmful traditional practices on children without the consent of the children or their parents or guardians is a violation of children’s rights and contravenes human rights.
The arrests and subsequent condemnation highlight the government’s stance on protecting children’s rights and ensuring that cultural practices do not infringe upon individual freedoms and human rights.
First time I am hearing of Mukanda scandal.
Ku juba in unsanitary conditions.
Male genital mutilation at a grave yard. Classic irony if you ask me.
Story sounds strange. I have been connected to this tradition for as long as I have lived. Never heard of such things. Only the kidnapping part makes sense but normally those taken are trespassing individuals.
There’s no genital mutilation as only the foreskin is removed. However, the contestable part is the forcing of “aliens’ into the practice. My dad always narrates stories of how as boys in Mufulira and Mokambo forests, they had to often flee Luvale instructors who wanted to abduct them into the camps. The instructors would claim trespass but without signposts stating boundaries how could they have known?
The police shd learn to consult on some of these traditional practices before they get excited. its a customary practice that pipo who stray into the mukanda camp are circumcised. moreover the govt is promoting circumcision isnt it . there are govt posters everywhere asking people to go for circumcision. the proper circumcision is the traditional one done without anathesia not the one from the hospital. the hospital one makes the hosepipe weak.
Have you followed the story? The police case isnt circumcission. It is “for allegedly taking children into the initiation camp illegally”