Driver arrested with kilos of donkey meat at the popular Burma Market

Piece by: CYRUS OMBATI
Crime

•Veterinary officials said the meat had not been inspected as required by law.

Donkey carcasses

A driver was arrested after being found with several kilos of donkey meat at the popular Burma Market in Nairobi.

Police said the seizure shows some residents could be consuming donkey meat without approval and inspection by veterinary officials.

Police said they had been tipped off the driver was ferrying the donkey meat to the market on Monday night when they intercepted his car and found it therein.

Veterinary officials said the meat had not been inspected as required by law.

The meat was kept as an exhibit and the suspect will appear in court to be charged with being in possession of uninspected meat.

Police want to know how long the man has been supplying the meat to the market.

"We want to know more about his supplies and who has been buying the same because we could be consuming donkey meat without our knowledge," Nairobi police boss Adamson Bungei said.

Donkey meat is not illegal in Kenya. Kenya's population of donkeys is under threat after the High Court lifted a 2020 ban on donkey slaughterhouses, allowing them to resume selling the meat and hides to Asian markets.

Donkey slaughter was legalized in Kenya in 2012, leading to a rapid decimation of the animal population and cross-border theft.

Although Veterinary experts say donkey meat is safe for human consumption, its consumption is yet to gain ground in Kenya.

The government has, however, been urged to ban the export of donkey skins.

The concern now is that those who are slaughtering donkeys for skin trade are taking advantage of the high demand for meat, especially in Nairobi, to sell the meat which is slaughtered in unhygienic conditions.

Kenya does not have enough meat, hence the bulk of animals for slaughter are brought in from Ethiopia and Tanzania.

The supplies in most cases are not enough to satisfy the demand hence the unscrupulous business of selling donkey meat disguised as cow meat in Nairobi.

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