Senate questions viability of Kenya Meat Commission

The Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture has questioned the viability of the troubled Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) in Athi River.

A fortnight after the Treasury set aside Sh500m towards the recovery of the plant, the committee now wants to investigate why the firm is not delivering.

According to the committee chairman Kiraitu Murungi, they were concerned over the performance of KMC, which for years has relied on government funding.

He noted that the Botswana Meat Commission was vibrant and making profit and wondered what was ailing KMC.

“So many resources have been put into KMC but it’s not performing,” he said.

The Meru Senator was speaking at the end of a two-day workshop on the status of the livestock sector in the country at Enashipai Resort in Naivasha.

Mr Murungi supported calls to open a donkey abattoir in Naivasha adding that the country should now address the production of more donkey breeds.

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

Speaker of the Senate Ekwee Ethuro, who was the chief guest, said livestock sector was not well funded like other government agencies.

He supported calls to open a donkey abattoir in Naivasha saying donkey meat was a delicacy, which had been consumed in Turkana for years.

The speaker challenged the Government to conduct a national livestock census since 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.

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

Disease control

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

Committee deputy chairman Kareke Mbiuki 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.

“Currently, there is a major coffee crisis in Nyeri County but, as Parliament, we are ready to work with the Senate and governors to resolve pending issues,” he said.