Slaughterhouse now a drought-hit cattle graveyard

By Alex Kiprotich

As you approach Athi River, your eyes are attracted to a flock of birds in the sky.

The birds move in lazy circles and at some point descend to the ground in one swoop.

And while at it, the smell of dust from the nearby construction of road dissipates as a putrid stench assaults your nostrils.

The stench becomes stronger as you approach the descended birds and carcasses of rotting animals appear.

Die by the minute

Hundreds of scavengers are having a field day devouring carcasses of animals in various stages of decay.

This is the macabre spectacle outside the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) compound as animals die by the minute while awaiting clearance to ‘enter’ the slaughterhouse.

The foul smell emanates from carcasses lying outside the State-owned meat processor’s gates — metres away from the factory whose motto is "Meat cut above the rest".

Instead of the sound of whirring machines chopping meat into predetermined sizes in the factory, it is that of excavators, lifting carcasses onto lorries for ferrying to a mass graveyard, at grounds belonging to Portland Cement Company.

Because of the high rate of deaths, KMC exhausted its designated spot last week.

And at the 12,000-acre Portland Cement land, onto which all animals delivered to KMC are off loaded, there is a mass grave, where piles of dead animals are dumped.

Marabou storks fly over carcasses of cows at the Kenya Meat Commission paddock near Athi River. Photo: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters

"We exhausted the land we had designated as a burial site and entered into an agreement with Portland Cement to use theirs," a security officer told The Standard.

Currently there are about 10,000 animals awaiting clearance at the site.

The officer said at least 100 animals die daily at the facility.

"It was decided that the image of animals dying in front of the slaughterhouse was bad and we had to look for another site," said the officer.

Mr Abdalla Hussein from Mandera said the rate of death within the precincts of KMC is higher than that in the fields.

Compensation

Mr Hussein who transported 42 animals to the abattoir said five died in transit while eight died while waiting for clearance at KMC.

"This is very bad. Nobody will compensate me for the lost animals," he said.

Richard Lempaka from Samburu said pastoralists have incurred double loss.

Mr Lempaka said they pay transporters yet most of the animals die as they watch and, therefore, end up getting nothing from the Government.

"I hired a lorry for Sh20,000 to transport 15 cows yet I am now left with seven animals," he said.

He said they couldn’t wait at designated buying spots in their regions because KMC only picks two or three cows.

"They have buying spots but I cannot wait because the probability of your animals being picked is almost nil," he says.

Even residents of Athi River have closed some of their businesses because of the invasive and pervasive smell from decomposing carcasses.

Kiosks selling vegetables, tomatoes and fruits have been abandoned.

Mary Nthenya says she has suspended her business because she fears contamination from the foul smell.

"People are scared the vegetables we display for sale could be contaminated. There is a real concern," she said.

Ms Nthenya says the cattle, which lie everywhere pose a horrific public health situation that requires urgent intervention by relevant Government authorities.

Untold suffering

Mr Dickson Nzovu, who off loads animals from lorries, says pastoralists are undergoing untold suffering but their options are limited.

Nzovu says some of them are forced to sell to brokers at throwaway prices rather than watch them die.

"Some unscrupulous people are making a killing from the frustrated farmers. They offer them Sh200 for a dying animal," he said.

Mr Benson Kitur from Maralal was forced to take home a mere Sh3,400 for his ten cows after they failed to meet the commission’s standards.

He said the commission inspectors cleared 15 others and he had to sell the remainder to the middlemen hovering the place like the vultures at a carcass party.

"There is no option but to dispose of cattle at whatever price rather than wait for KMC to make up its mind because the weak animals will die before inspection," he said.

The emaciated animals die because of hunger and fatigue due to the long distance they travel.

The commission buys the animals at Sh100 per kilogramme for those who deliver to the factory while its personnel, stationed at designated areas, buy each animal at a flat rate of Sh8,000.

Livestock Minister Mohammed Kuti admitted that 1,500 animals died in the last two weeks because of hunger.

Buying spots

Kuti said the ministry would, however, start supplying hay to the animals to reduce on the number of deaths.

"Apart from supplying hay to KMC, we will also deliver them to the buying spots in pastoralist areas," he said.