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City Hall says meat sold in Nairobi is safe

Executive Committee Member in charge of Agriculture, Livestock Development and Fisheries Anne Lokidor said the meat from Nairobi’s eight abattoirs is properly inspected and meets the required standards/XINHUA FILE

Executive Committee Member in charge of Agriculture, Livestock Development and Fisheries Anne Lokidor said the meat from Nairobi’s eight abattoirs is properly inspected and meets the required standards/XINHUA FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, July 11 – The Nairobi County Executive has dismissed a report by the County Assembly that claimed that meat sold in the city was unsafe for consumption.

Executive Committee Member in charge of Agriculture, Livestock Development and Fisheries Anne Lokidor said the meat from Nairobi’s eight abattoirs is properly inspected and meets the required standards.

“All the slaughterhouse facilities are manned by certified, trained and qualified meat inspectors who are vetted by the Nairobi City County veterinary department. The officers ensure that all animals for slaughter are inspected before and after slaughter and award a certificate of clearance,” she stated. “The export slaughter houses are supervised by qualified county veterinary officers who are under the department of veterinary services.”

She pointed out that the county government has also put in place adequate measures to ensure meat from other counties is re-inspected before it is approved for consumption.

“The meat that comes from other counties is inspected at source and then when it reaches Nairobi, it is re-inspected by our people who are here and we would like to assure Nairobi residents that our meat is safe. My people are on the ground to ensure that there is no uninspected meat that reaches that the market,” she said.

She explained that meat transported within and into the city is always marked to show that it has undergone all the checks required.

“A certificate of transport is always issued for any the meat that leaves the company for purposes of traceability. Any meat that comes from anywhere in the country also has to have a certificate of transport. And even the carcass of the animal has to have a stamp,” she stated,

A report by the Nairobi county assembly Committee on Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources had stated that the quality of meat from city abattoirs is compromised.

According to the committee the abattoirs are in a deplorable state and need urgent improvement. The report states that most of the slaughterhouses are located in densely populated areas making it hard to enhance food safety standards.

The committee raised concerns on the current legislation governing the management of abattoirs, which it says are not in line with the new constitution.

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The committee recommended that all meat entering the county be inspected by the veterinary officers and stressed the need for the county to enact legislation for the regulation of slaughterhouses.

It further called for the Nairobi, Kajiado, Machakos and Kiambu counties to jointly formulate policies on how to control the movement of animals across boarders to foster businesses and regulations.

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