Kitengela residents are worried over a possible black market of donkey meat on sale at meat outlets following rampant Donkey theft in the area.
This comes amid concerns of hawking of cheap meat in the town which enjoys lucrative meat business due to high demand from the neighboring of Nairobi, Kiambu and Machakos.
The donkey theft menace has seen donkey owners in the populous town boycott work in protest, faulting rampant theft of the beast of burden.
In the last one month, at least 10 donkeys have been stolen and slaughtered within the town.
Dozens of agitated donkey owners on Tuesday carried carcasses to Kitengela police station in a protest over the menace which they said is adversely affecting their businesses.
They say their source of livelihood that involves supplying water to locals using donkey pulled carts is at risk.
“We will begin to profile butcheries we suspect are selling donkey meat. The meat is relatively cheap compared to the market price of the beef.
“We also urge security officers to intervene and arrest meat hawkers who are operating in a cavalier manner of selling meat in apartments, ” John Njoroge, a Kitengela resident, said.
Beef sells at Sh400 per kilogram while the meat hawkers sell stake pieces of meat as low as Ksh70.
“We could be having unsafe meat in the market. If the trend of slaughtering donkeys is not curbed, genuine meat dealers are likely to lose business.
“Meat consumers should be wary and refrain from consuming uninspected meat whose source is questionable,” another resident, Enock Waluke, said.
They claim more than 200 donkeys have been slaughtered in the past two years calling for police patrols to contain the alarming situation.
Owners of the slaughtered donkeys have recorded statements at Kitengela police station, calling for speedy investigations.
