The National Assembly members will today (Monday) debate on a bill that seeks to lift the ban on Female Genital Mutilation in The Gambia.

FGM law imposes up to 3 years in jail and a hefty fine of 50,000 dalasis.

The bill introduced by the national assembly member of Foni Kansala, Almamy Gibba, who argued that his private-member bill seeks to uphold religious purity and safeguard cultural norms and values, adding that the current ban on female circumcision is a direct violation of citizens’ rights to practice their culture and religion as guaranteed by the Constitution.

However, the bill has been denounced by women’s rights activists as “bad” and asked the lawmakers to throw it out.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba