Thika butchers who supply meat to the town and its environs have threatened to down their tools, citing a prolonged power cut at the main slaughterhouse that has affected their operations.
They said they have been operating in darkness for over two months after the Kenya Power Company disconnected electricity at the slaughter house over Sh36,000 debt from the Kiambu county government.
This, they said has made their operations risky, with fears that their animals might get stolen at the slaughterhouse at night.
Led by their chairman Stephen Mwangi, they said they no longer start slaughtering animals at 3 am as has been the case over the years, leading to delays in supplying to their customers.
“We receive animals for slaughter at around 2 am, and with this darkness, we fear they might be packed into lorries and taken away because security has been paralysed,” Mwangi said.
He said the disconnection came despite them paying daily levies to the county government. They added that efforts to have the county government intervene to have electricity back have not borne fruit.
“We have been in the dark for two months now because the electricity bill has not been paid by the county government. We have been visiting their offices for help, but even when they say they will pay, they do not. Sometimes we are even told to pay it ourselves,” Mwangi said.
They at the same time complained that they suffer losses of meat spoilage due to lack of refrigeration as sometimes unsold meat needs to be stored in the cold-room.
“The county revenue officers arrive early as 5 am and wait for us to work and collect revenue from us. Why do they collect it, yet they don’t pay our electricity bill?” Mwangi asked.
They warned that if immediate action is not taken, the entire meat supply chain in Thika could be disrupted, impacting not only their livelihoods, but also the nutrition of residents.
The butchers called on the Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi, to personally visit and intervene decisively to end the crisis.
“We are asking the governor to visit the slaughterhouse and listen to our grievances because only he can turn the situation around,” Mwangi said.
Kiambu deputy speaker John Njiru, who spoke on phone, refuted the claims that the county is responsible for paying the slaughterhouse electricity bill, saying the responsibility lies with the butchers at the slaughterhouse.
He added that they plan to convene a meeting with the butchers to discuss the matter.
