The National Assembly’s health and gender committee has asked parliament to keep the ban on female genital mutilation.

The committee’s recommendation comes amid a staunch campaign from scores of Gambians including Muslim clerics to lift ban on the deep-rooted traditional practice, after the Foni Kansala lawmaker Almamy Gibba tabled a proposed bill to decriminalise it.

However, in a stunning blow to pro-FGM advocates, National Assembly today during their submission of their report to the parliament, has recommended keeping the Women Act of 2015 unchanged.

The committee argued that Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) violates women’s basic human rights, while suggesting a strict ban on medicalising the practice.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba