Senators want donkey slaughterhouse in Naivasha

Senate Speaker Ekwe Ethuro and Meru Senator Kiraitu Murungi have expressed support for calls to open a donkey slaughterhouse in Naivasha.

Speaking in Naivasha at the end of a two-day workshop on the status of the livestock sector in the country, the two said that there should be plans in place to address the production of more donkey breeds and increase meat production.

“There is need to allocate more funds into research mainly in the agriculture and livestock sector so that the country can reap more,” said Kiraitu.

On his part, Ethuro, who was the chief guest, said there should a donkey abattoir in Naivasha since the animals are a delicacy which had been consumed in Turkana by area residents for years.

The Meru Senator further said that investigations will be launched into Kenya Meat Commission to find out what ails the company.

According to Kiraitu, the investigations are aimed at unravelling the reasons why the commission has been making losses over the years with the aims of finding lasting solutions.

Kiraitu noted that the Botswana Meat Commission in Botswana was vibrant and making profit and wondered why the Kenyan firm is still relying on government support to bankroll its operations.

“A lot of resources have been put into KMC but it’s not performing well, and the Senate has started investigating why this is the case,” he said.

Ethuro admitted that the livestock sector was not well funded like other government agencies despite it earning billions of shillings.

Raising GDP by 8%

“The livestock trade earns billions of shillings for the country but unfortunately it’s one of the under-funded sectors,” he said.

The speaker challenged the government to conduct a national livestock census noting that the country did not have actual figures.

“There is also need to address emerging challenges facing the livestock sector like diseases, feeds and market for livestock products,” he said.

Permanent Secretary for Livestock Fred Sigor said that livestock sector contributed 12 per cent to the GDP but this could be raised to 20 per cent.

“There is need to address disease control in the country and also the amount allocated to the sector as they are not adequate,” he said.

The Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture Karee Mbeki challenged county governments to allocate more funds to the livestock sector.

He noted with concern that the national and county governments were not reading from the same script when it came to agriculture and livestock issues.