This archive report was first published on 13 June 2020.
On June 13, 2020, a devastating incident occurred at Olekisiara farm in Emurua-Dikir, where MP Johanna Ngeno's herd of 24 Holstein Friesian cattle worth Sh2.5 million died after feeding on a poisonous imported mineral product.
The product, which is imported from Ireland and available at local animal feeds stores, was bought by Ngeno in a batch of tens of bags with an expiry date of January 28, 2022.
According to Fredrick Mutai, the farm manager, the pedigree cattle started dropping dead one after another, minutes after feeding on the product.
"The cows began shivering, foaming in the mouth and running wild before dropping dead one after the other five minutes after minerals salt," Mutai said.
Despite efforts to save the animals, including calling a veterinary doctor who injected them, there was little that could be done.
"We followed keenly the instructions given by the product supplier. He told us the ration for each cow is 200 grammes per day mixed with other general animals feeds. That is what exactly what we did," said Luke Evans, another worker at the farm.
However, Mutai is convinced that the product is to blame for the heifers' deaths, as the cattle that did not feed on the minerals are not affected.
"There is no doubt that the product is to blame for the death of the cows," he said.
Ngeno has challenged the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) to be keen on all the cattle feeds imports to shield farmers from incurring huge losses like himself.
"It's very devastating for a farmer to lose even a single cow due to the failure by Kenya Bureau of Standards to block the importation of poisonous cattle feeds and other products," he said.
