Media campaign on Female Genital mutilation-voices of Female African traditional leaders -community celebrities

Well it was back to media campaign against Female Genital Mutilation again but this time it felt the more different because I had Queen Naa Tsotsoo 1 from Ghana as a copanelist.Leaders within the African traditional systems have been overlooked.Who said African women had no power traditionally to an extent we had to import it to help us get rid of some die hard harmful cultural practices? Women are Queens and they are respected leaders who when they speak people identify easily with them than a flier or picture with a stranger.Like when Queen Naa spoke,you felt she had the correct selection of words for her chew and digest.She did not choke them like those taking big manuals and sophisticated materials and spending millions of money to stop something a woman ruler can just in one minute with just a few direct messages.I think if the power of African women Royals is still respected it is time we officially recognise that they exist as the leadership key to bringing gender equality.That said Queen Naa Tsotsoo 1 is always with the transformation words.They come gently and always well thought out and no wonder quietly her people follow her with respect. As for me i was there on the panel and my message was that clear that a culture that cuts any part of your body is Criminal.Cutting genital parts of any part of the body is like cutting a leg or finger.One will be disabled.FGM brings some sort of disability to that part of woman that remains hidden under garments. Our host was Kwaku of Vox TV Channel 218.It was my first time to meet a man who is angered by FGM. He had done so much research and indeed his panel of experts and one woman from Ghana who testified shows what great deal of work he put into this piece.He had news clips,medical commentator and a great social male commentor from Nigeria called Chedu.He is brilliant and so honoured to listen to his wisdom.It comes out naturally. It is good we focused on Northern Ghana.What a shame in this day and age people still take knives to cut such delicate parts of girls all to please men in marriage.It is girls who carry the trauma of being disabled.More so some of the men hop from woman to woman without squashing their sexual hunger.Then we think cutting girls will keep them less sexually active and later in life we think their sexual activity will come back through some miracle.How naive to think like this honestly. Going forward I think traditional authority of women like Queen Naa and others can make the campaigns strong. oh well Africa has leadership places for women and can we respect and support these so that we eliminate such die hard practices like FGM.