Famous Kitengela slaughterhouse to close for elections on Tuesday

By , K24 Digital
On Mon, 8 Aug, 2022 08:10 | 2 mins read
Kitengela slaughterhouse to close on polls day
Kitengela slaughterhouse to close on polls day. PHOTO/Christine Musa

The lucrative Kitengela slaughterhouse will remain closed on Tuesday, August 9, 2022, to enable farmers to participate in the polls.

Farmers and meat dealers have agreed to instead slaughter a large number of cattle on Monday to have sufficient stock that will last butcheries till Wednesday.

According to the slaughterhouse chairperson William Kasio, the management took the initiative as a way of encouraging farmers and workers at the slaughterhouse to turn out and vote in large numbers.

"As the slaughterhouse management, we need to encourage others to be responsible to participate in voting. We understand the significance of meat business in Kitengela but voting is a patriotic and democratic initiative in which we should all participate.

"We have been encouraging our workers to turn out and vote and that is why we mutually agreed to close temporarily to facilitate high turnout, "Kasio says.

Kasio added that the slaughterhouse will slaughter an additional 50 goats, 50 sheep and 40 cattle on Monday, August 8.

This comes amid a major crisis in cattle supply due to the ravaging drought that has hit the region. This has in turn seen the deteriorating health of the animals cut the prices of the cattle by up to 30 per cent.

"There is a shortage of cattle supply for slaughtering because the animals are emaciated due to hunger. Most farmers have resulted in holding back livestock waiting to sell them on market prices when it rains," Leina Noah, a cattle broker says.

On the other hand, some farmers willing to sell their emaciated farmers due to the high cost of feeds say they can barely get customers because the animals are too thin to slaughter.

The populous Kitengela town is a home to the lucrative nyama choma business which attracts consumers from neighbouring Nairobi, Kiambu and Machakos counties.

The slaughterhouse has over 80 workers and tens of willing buyers and willing sellers of cattle, sheep and goats who throng the facility every day to transact business.

More than 50,000kgs of meat is slaughtered on a daily basis at the facility. A kilogram of meat costs between Ksh380 and Ksh400.