Draft

This is hardly surprising. The pictures were sickening. The kind you really don’t want to see and imagine that that is where your meat is coming from. The footage of the abattoirs on TV was gory and disturbing. It’s surprising nobody has fallen sick yet! This is a clear health hazard not just to the people consuming the meat but also to the workers themselves.even for the workers themselves

Kenyans too are facing a new phenomenon – following the law.

First of all is to celebrate the fact that the gooey almost non-existent Nairobi river could proudly host cleaner waters again – as it’s supposed to.

If the government and UNEP are pumping 150 Million into cleaning the Nairobi river, then everyone who can should also play an individual role in cleaning up the river and indeed the environment as a whole

Some time back, in an unrelated article, Police spokesman Kiraithe remarked that Kenyans do want the law to be followed but only when it does not apply to them. That statement rang true yesterday as the residents of Dagoretti took to the streets to protest the closure of the filthy abortours

There are set environmental regulations and it’s upto to every individual Kenyan to follow them.

he closure of the abbotours in

The filth and goo

Kenyans are a funny lot.

We expect every one else to follow the law except ourselves/

Loot at the Dagoretti slaughter house case for example.

The residents are taking police in running battles to as to have the slaughter houses re-opened

What is meat? Who cannot sacrifice a few days of nyama choma as a direct contribution to the cleaning of the Nairobi river? And eat healthier vegetables in the meantime?

The fact that these slaughter houses had been given notice by NEMA makes their case even more difficult to understand.

The bloody goo on the floor and the dirty counters on which they work is putting all their clients health at risk.

Dumping their live waste into Nairobi River is something they should have stopped doing out of their own conscience long before NEMA came calling.

As much as we want the government to streamline every aspect of our lives, we as the citizens also have our part to play.

Th butchers are not being asked to stop operating, they’re being asked to put their act together as far as cleanliness and waste management is concerned.

Even a brief meat shortage in Nairobi would be a small price to pay for the cleaning of Nairobi River.

The abbatoirs case compares very well to the tran

Like the matatu owners and drivers had been given a three month notice to get their act together. Only after the notice period erupted did they take to the streets citing mistreatment.

I remember when Michuki was streamlining the matatu industry, Kenyans were right behind him and were ready to become a walking nation for as long as it took in support of the proposed changes. We should apply the same spirit and if need be go meat free for as long as it takes. This for the sake of the environment and also for our own health. And how I wish John Njoroge Michuki had stuck at the Environment ministry for some more time.

Nema is most welcome to slaughterhouses in other towns too. Last I heard red meat is not healthy anyway. We shall be willing to eat vegetables for as long as it takes.

Take the case of the overloading matatus for example. Who are the passengers? Is it not the very wananchi who are vilifying Mwakwere for sleeping on the job? Are they not asleep on the job too? If you get into a matatu that is already full and you don’t fasten your seatbelt, what does Mwakwere have to do with it?