Residents of Kizingitini in Lamu East want the government to allow them to trap and eat turtles, saying turtle meat is of great medicinal value and increases male libido.
There is a ban forbidding residents from killing turtles. It is also illegal to hunt them.
The residents say their health has deteriorated since the ban on turtle meat was imposed several years ago.
Lamu residents have for decades held onto the belief that turtle fat can
treat asthma, TB and impotence. The fat is also believed to boost libido.
Residents say if the ban is not lifted they should at least be allowed to fish turtles to a given limit to address their health issues.
Fisherman Shee Kassim from Faza said more marriages have broken as compared to the times before the ban on turtle fishing. Many men no longer have a ‘booster’ for their sexual drive, making their wives leave them. “Turtle soup gives men a lot of sexual energy. In the days of our forefathers, divorces were rare because men were active in bed,” Kassim said.
Nutritionist Charles Mwashighadi from the Lamu District Hospital denied that turtle meat and fat are medicinal. He said there are many other alternative meals with the same nutritional content.
“Whatever nutritional value is found in turtles is the exact same thing found in fish and other food. Instead of giving excuses on why they should be allowed to eat turtles, they should eat fish and save these turtles from extinction,”Mwashighadi said.
World Wide Fund for nature county officer Mike Olendo urged residents to cooperate with relevant agencies and conserve turtles.
Olendo said the turtle population across the globe is dangerously dwindling due to a myriad of reasons, among them misleading cultures and beliefs about the nutritional value of turtle meat.
