Thugs raid manyatta, steal and slaughter animals

By Anthony Gitonga

NAIVASHA, KENYA: Unknown number of men raided a Maasai manyatta in Naivasha driving away herds of cattle before slaughtering them a few meters away.

During the bizarre incident, the well organized suspects held the owner hostage for over ten hours as they slaughtered the livestock near DTI farm next to the Nairobi-Nakuru highway.

Later using two vehicles they carried away the meat leaving behind internal organs, hide, hooves and the head.

Irate members of the Maasai community milled at the scene condemning the incident and threatened to take unnamed action if the culprits were not arrested.

The frail looking owner of the livestock Panoto Ole Njorira told how over ten men raided his manyatta on Wednesday evening.

They beat him up, tied him using several ropes before dumping him in some bushes but under guard.

“Another group took the five largest cattle and for over ten hours two men kept watch before leaving at around 4am in the morning,” he said.

Panoto put the value of the livestock at Sh0.5m adding that during the raid he had lost some personal effects including cash and a mobile phone.

In the last couple of months cases of donkey slaughter in Naivasha have been on the increase and the cattle slaughter caught many by surprise.