By Antony Gitonga
Kenya: Kenyans have been huffing and puffing, wailing and mourning every time donkey remains, freshly cleaned of their flesh by unscrupulous butchers are found dumped in open fields or by the roadside.
By there is no need to hee-haw anymore. Thanks to a Naivasha entrepreneur, donkeys will now be slaughtered in a clean environment and by qualified butchers.
Mr John Ngonjo Kariuki has put up an ultra-modern slaughterhouse at Maraigushu in Naivasha at a cost of Sh15 million. The abattoir is expected to be ready in the first week of March.
This means donkey, sorry, equine meat lovers should not worry any more about the hygiene and quality of their favourite delicacy.
READ MORE
Alarm as fish catch in Lake Naivasha drops
Two children die as inferno razes house in Naivasha
This will become the first ever donkey abattoir in Kenya and Africa.
And Kenyans whose stomachs churn at the mention of donkey meat, should not worry that Mr Ngonjo is out to throw good money after bad because there is a ready market for the meat in China.
“I have been to China where there is a high demand and market for donkey meat and this slaughterhouse will take care of that,” Ngonjo explained yesterday.
He said this when he took government officials and Chinese investors on a tour of the slaughterhouse.
The trader said that he is in the process of acquiring legal papers and certification from the Government.
“The slaughter of donkeys has been legalised by the Government for some years only that some unscrupulous traders have decided to use the bushes,” he said.
The slaughterhouse is expected to open many job opportunities. Ngonjo revealed that once the abattoir is completed, there will be as many as 30 vacancies, while scores others will be employed by the slaughterhouse indirectly.
The businessman said there will be no problem getting donkeys as there are over two million of them in the country. Pokot, Turkana and even Naivasha will keep the slaughterhouse busy, he said.
Naivasha Sub County Veterinary Officer, Dr Enos Amuyunzu, said donkey meat sale was legalised in Kenya the in 1999.
“The Government has legalised the sale of donkey meat only that we did not have legalised slaughterhouses,” he said.
The news was however received with mixed reactions by Naivasha water vendors who use donkeys for transport.
“We also fear that the same people who have been slaughtering our donkeys will start stealing them as there will be a ready market,” one of them, Jose wa Funda, said.
