Government lifts ban on livestock movement

Laikipia, Kenya: Livestock farmers in Laikipia have a reason to smile after the Government lifted a quarantine imposed in September last year due to an outbreak of foot and mouth disease.

The new directive gives farmers a chance to sell their livestock and also move them within the county, especially in search of pasture.

County Director of Veterinary Services Peterson Njiru said the foot and mouth disease outbreak was reported last year and the ban affected livestock farmers, buyers and butchers from the county and outside.

“We have managed to vaccinate livestock within the region and farmers are free to move them now,” said Mr Njiru.

Residents blamed the disease outbreak on massive cross-border movement of livestock by pastoralists from Isiolo, Samburu and Baringo counties.

ILLEGAL HERDERS

The same pastoralists have been blamed for rising insecurity in pastoralist areas. Two months ago, an AP officer was shot and seriously injured after illegal herders, suspected to be from Isiolo County,  invaded Lekuruki Group Ranch in Laikipia County.

The officer was in a contingent of security officers who had been dispatched to the ranch to evict herders.

A spot check by The Standard discovered that the herders had invaded the conservancy, which hosts Tasia Tourist Lodge, forcing the facility to close down and cancel bookings worth millions of shillings.

Nominated MP Sarah Lekorere and Mukogodo West Ward Representative Paul Lebeneiyo said the herders ambushed the AP and his four colleagues in their houses. They also attacked the conservancy’s security team.

“They sprayed them with bullets, and we discovered that they used G3, AK47 and M-16 rifles,” said Lekorere.

When The Standard visited the ranch, the herders, brandishing rifles, were grazing their animals freely in the area, with their livestock mingling with wildlife.

Njiru said the disease spread quickly after the first case was reported, as there were no standby vaccines to combat it.

Meanwhile, police in Nyandarua County have launched investigations into the mysterious death of a prominent businessman in Ol Joro Orok constituency.

DUMPED BODY

The body of Simon Kinyanjui was found floating in Jacob Dam by residents who had gone to fetch water yesterday morning.

The 52-year-old man went missing on Tuesday last week.

A postmortem carried out at Nyahururu District Hospital indicated that he might have been killed elsewhere and his body dumped in the dam to conceal evidence.

According to the deceased’s relatives, the man had left his home in the morning but did not return in the evening.

“We looked in police stations and mortuaries without success. We were shocked to be told that his body had been spotted in a dam five kilometers from his home,” said Mwangi Kiarie, the deceased’s step-brother.

Nyandarua OCPD Benjamin Onsongo said they had launched investigations into the death.