Over 200 cattle die mysteriously in Kilifi

By JOSEPH MASHA

Kilifi, Kenya: Livestock farmers at Vuma village in Kilifi County are counting their losses after more than 200 head of cattle died in mysterious circumstances early  Thursday morning.

Residents say the cattle died while at the Mombasa Cement Company and the irate farmers demonstrated alleging that their cattle died after they drunk contaminated water at the factory.

However, the cement factory supervisor, Javel Bashir Mohamed, dismissed the farmers’ insinuations that the firm had poisoned water to kill the animals following its past warning to the farmers against grazing on the land.

He said the company has nothing to do with the cattle’s death and urged residents to wait for a report from the veterinary department.

Yesterday, the cattle’s carcasses were lying in different places in the village raising fears of a disease outbreak, especially with the flooding caused by heavy rains.

The villagers later held demonstrations demanding the factory be closed for causing the cattle’s death.