Village puzzled as man feeds on tortoise meat

By Vincent Mbatuk

His aging and wrinkled face heavily shakes, not once but severally followed by along hearty laughter as he examines the only delicacy he was introduced to by his father many decades ago.

Seated on a rock in the middle of a shrubby and abandoned land, Emoit Olechiri turns his ‘cow’, a Leopard tortoise, upside down as he starts to slaughter his evening meal.

Mr Olechiri, in his 80s, goes about the ritual of slaughtering the tortoise to the astonishment of the Standard team that had paid him a visit.

The 30-minute process to him is normal, just like one would skin a goat.

He notices the wince on my face and bursts out in laughter, then announces this has been his food for years.

“Niache nini? Hapana nitakula mpaka Mungu arudi kunipeleka kwenye nyumba kubwa, (To stop? No, until God returns to take me to the big house),” he says as he cuts across the belly of the tortoise.

Several years

All this time, as he butchers the tortoise, meters away, hot water boils over the traditional three-stone jiko.

With several years of feeding on tortoise meat, he prepares it before moving towards the fire place.

“This fire is hot enough to kill all germs. There is no need of washing the meat,” he says as he places the meat into the boiling water.

He says his late father introduced him to the tortoise delicacy as a young boy.

With a frail look, he narrates how his father took him through the process of preparing the delicacy that has left residents of Oldebes in Kisanana division Baringo County in disbelief.

He lives in an open ground and wears tattered clothes, uses twisted and partially burnt spoons, and there are empty shells scattered around the place.

Residents of the area have on several occasions attempted to construct a traditional hut for him, only for him to raze them down.

“That is my bed where I spend the night because there are no wild animals here.

Almost 40 years ago when I arrived at this place, a lot of hyenas roamed the area,” he said.

Cooks easily

A single mature tortoise, he told us, takes him three to four days when eaten alone as he does not like ugali or vegetables.

Chicken, eggs or any other such meal has not been part of his menu.

The man who left his wife and four children says tortoise meat cooks easily and has no fats as compared to other sources of meat.

He says he left his ancestral home in Katilo village, Turkana, several years ago because of frequent fights over cattle rustling with the neighbouring communities.

As we chat, he keeps on stealing glances at the boiling meat to ensure that it is ready.

“People think I am crazy but as you can see, I am okay. It is only that I eat what they refuse to eat,” he says.

Interestingly, he says he is willing to introduce interested villagers to it, although according to him, none of them is brave enough to come out openly and confess due to intimidation and rejections because of the strong traditional background in the community.

The animal, to him, only dies when it is boiled; and not after slaughter as is the case with other animals.

“Tortoise will only die when boiled not when the heart is separated from the rest of the body, even the legs will continue moving hours after emptying the shell,” says the old man.

Alert villagers

After around an hour, he says his meat is ready and removes it from the fire and lets it cool for some minutes before eating.

Area chief Stephen Ngetich said residents are puzzled by the man’s habit of eating tortoises and whenever one spots him carrying one, they alert villagers who go and witness the man in awe.

“He just goes about his business as it appears normal to him although some of us consider it weird,” he says.

He says in 2010, they forcefully took the man to his rural home but were shocked when he returned two months later.

“We do not know if it because of tortoises which are easily found here that he came back or he just does not want to stay at his home,” he says.

Mr Ngetich says he has been supplying the old man with relief food to stop him from eating tortoise but when he comes across one, he cannot leave it.

“It is quite difficult to assist this him because he does not have any identification documents, but we appreciate the local community for accepting him the way he is,” said Mr Ngetich.

A neighbour, Jerono Kirwa said during rainy season, they are forced to provide him with an alternative shelter although she confessed because of his habit of eating tortoise meat, at times he is feared by her children.