Butcher’s confession shocks villagers

By Arnold Cangaini

Villagers of Kathiru in Embu East District were shocked last week when their trusted butcher confessed in court about the source of the meat that had made him popular.

Nyaga had been their favourite butcher for years. There was dismay in the packed court when he explained how he came by the meat he sold so cheaply to the villagers.

"Meat is meat, judge," he declared. "If what people believe to be taboo meat was meant to kill, these villagers would all be dead."

The villagers heard that they had been feasting on skunks, monkeys and other wild animals.

Nyaga was an unorthodox butcher. He had no weighing machine and relied on his left hand to weigh meat. Villagers ended up with larger chunks than they would have bought at the nearby Runyenjes town.

Besides, his prices were elastic. For instance, at the middle of the month he sold meat at half price. "I love you people and understand that these are difficult times," he would tell customers when they asked why he always reduced his prices at mid month.

Fortune grew

Above all, the villagers liked Nyaga because he sold meat on credit. He was very patient and some villagers, on learning about this ‘weakness’, promised to pay him when they received their annual tea bonus.

Nyaga’s butchery became popular in the neighbouring villages. He even started rearing chickens in his backyard as his fortune grew. It was not long before he expanded his business premises and started a pub. It became popular with drunkards and idlers, especially youths.

What particularly attracted the idlers was the cheap tasty soup and roast meat that were sold next to the pub.

Then Nyaga started selling chicken meat. A Sh10 chunk of chicken meat was enough to add taste to fried githeri. Villagers had never had it so good.

Baboon limbs

However, one unlucky morning Nyaga’s trick was uncovered by a drunkard. Nyaga’s scouts had brought in the meat early in the morning. They passed by the drunkard who had slept in the trench overnight at the pub’s backyard and had just woken up.

Marangu, the drunkard, was shocked to see what the boys had brought in.

He woke up and rushed to summon the villagers. The angry villagers gathered immediately and rushed to Nyaga’s place and forced their way in. They forced him to carry the game meat and marched him to the local police station.

When Marangu was summoned by the court as a witness, he said, "Judge, I am not drunk today. In fact I vowed never to drink again when I saw what we used to eat as roasted meat. We did not eat roasted goat but roasted baboons."

Nyaga pleaded guilty to the charges and even freely confessed like one possessed. "I used to make the rich soup with rats, moles and baboon limbs. Judge, I ask the court to forgive me."

Outside the courtroom, some villagers vowed to become vegetarians there and then.