BY ANDREW MIBEI

Bomet,Kenya:SALES: There are at least 1000 cows either being bought or sold every Tuesday, translating into millions of shillings changing hands every week

Almost every homestead in Bomet County has at least a cow. This is an investment so close to the heart of the Kipsigis who belong to the larger Kalenjin community aptly referred to as ‘gotab chego’ or ‘the house of milk’ for its love of cattle.

The County Weekly team visited Kapkwen cattle market situated about four kilometres from Bomet town and learned a great deal about cattle — especially how to sell them.

According to the cattle market’s chairperson, Joseph Kirui, there are at least 1000 cows either being bought or sold every Tuesday when the market is held. This translates into millions of shillings exchanging hands every week.  The prices of cattle range from Sh60,000 for the cheapest and over Sh100, 000 for the very good ones.

Bulk buying

“Over ten million shillings is spent here every Tuesday on buying cattle, goats and sheep. This makes our market very important in the economy of the county and the region at large,” Kirui revealed.

There are two main categories of traders in this market — the locals who buy for their own farming and those from outside the county who purchase livestock in bulk for bigger markets in Nairobi and other big cities. 

Although these groups are the real financiers of this market, most of the times, they depend on hundreds of middlemen who throng the market every Tuesday to act as intermediaries between them.

The middlemen, referred to as brokers in this market, earn a lot of money from livestock bargains and have been a source of controversy every now and then when a seller realises that he has been ‘duped’ into selling his animal for a pittance by the broker.

Wished away

However, the brokers cannot be wished away because they are the only people who have the trust of the buyers from outside the county. Their word is taken by the buyers as law and thus they decide which livestock are to be bought.

According to Kirui, the brokers form an important link between farmers and the local buyers on one side, and the buyers from major towns on the other.

He reveals that it is a free market where the highest bidder wins, and a seller is free to bargain for the highest price for his animal.

Weighing machine

“The broker actually takes only a small percentage of the seller’s price and the buyer’s price, and this is after a mutual agreement,” he said.

The chairperson said he expects the support of the county government in acquiring a weighing machine for the market that will help farmers solve this broker problem especially when selling cattle for slaughter.

The weighing machine will help standardise the prices.

The Municipal Council of Bomet issues a fifty-shilling receipt for every cow brought at the market. However, the gate collections do not tally with the number of cattle traded in in this market.

With the average sale of a thousand cattle every week, one would have expect a fivefigure collection from tax  but this is not so.

Council workers stationed at the market said they collect between five and six thousand shillings every Tuesday. This is because there is no clear way of taxing all cows. Traders do not drive their cows out of the market after buying them until after 3.00pm when the taxman’s time elapses. It is also evident that some traders do their business outside the market thereby evading the tax.

Important market

“Laws should be made so that the county government gets as much revenue as possible from this market,” a council worker said.

“An average of fifty thousand should be collected every week if proper measures are put in place to ensure that every animal that comes to the market is issued with a receipt,” the council worker revealed.

The other challenge facing the market is the poor state of the market grounds especially during the rains when it becomes so muddy.

The traders wish that gravel could be spread on the lower side that is mostly affected.

Police were also mentioned as another hindrance in this market owing to their tendency of usurping the powers of vets and public health officials.

Demand bribes

Traders claimed that police officers at times claim that the cows they are selling are sick and unfit for human consumption and they end up demanding bribes from the sellers to turn a blind eye.

There is also need to construct stalls for the food traders who currently operate from wood and tin shacks around the muddy market and sometimes the foodstuff is laid on the bare ground, a situation that compromises hygiene.

With proper structures in place, Bomet County and its neighbours will greatly benefit from this livestock market.