Anyone who witnesses female genital mutilation (FGM) but fails to alert the authorities could face up to three years in prison or a Sh200,000 fine under proposed legal changes that also seek to stop survivors from being prosecuted for undergoing the practice.
The proposals are contained in the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation (Amendment) Bill, 2026, sponsored by nominated Senator Catherine Mumma, which seeks to tighten the duty to report FGM and address concerns that victims have been caught up in criminal proceedings under the existing law.
Under the proposed amendments, a person who is present where FGM is being carried out, is about to take place, or is in the immediate vicinity would be required to report the matter to a law enforcement officer as soon as reasonably practicable.
“A person commits an offence if the person is physically present at the place where genital mutilation is being or is about to be performed or in the immediate vicinity of that place, but fails to report as soon as is reasonably practicable to a law enforcement officer,” the Bill states.
Those who fail to meet the proposed reporting requirement could be fined up to Sh200,000 or jailed for a maximum of three years.
The obligation, however, would not extend to everyone in every circumstance. A person who is the victim of the FGM offence would be exempt from the requirement to report it.
The proposed law would also remove the reporting obligation where law enforcement officers already know that FGM has taken place or is intended, or where the matter has already entered the public domain.
The Bill has been published for introduction in the Senate at the first-reading stage and seeks to amend the existing Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act.
A key part of the proposed changes is to prevent people who have undergone FGM from being prosecuted for offences arising from their own mutilation. Mumma says the current legal framework has produced an unintended outcome, with survivors facing punishment under a law intended to eliminate the practice.
The senator argues that provisions meant to combat FGM can lead to victims being prosecuted and convicted, raising concerns about how the law is applied to those who have undergone the procedure themselves.
“The principal object of the Bill is to amend the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act to address the unintended consequence that the majority of persons prosecuted and convicted under the Act are themselves victims or survivors of female genital mutilation,” the Bill states.
To address the issue, the proposed amendments would introduce a formal definition of an FGM victim into the law.
The Bill defines a victim as a person who “has undergone, or is undergoing, female genital mutilation performed on that person’s own genitalia”.
This proposed definition would cover people who have already undergone the procedure and those currently undergoing it.
The changes follow concerns raised by the courts over the reporting provisions in the existing law, which have prompted questions about the consequences of the current legal framework for those affected by FGM.
Mumma’s proposals seek to address those concerns through two main measures: requiring people who witness or are near the scene of FGM to report it in specified circumstances, and preventing survivors from being prosecuted for offences arising from their own mutilation.
If passed into law, the amendments would introduce penalties for failing to report FGM while setting out exceptions to the reporting requirement and providing a legal definition intended to recognise survivors as victims.