This archive report was first published on 4 January 2020.
On January 4, 2020, a group of Muranga County residents issued a 14-day ultimatum to Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri to review the proposed Livestock Bill 2019, which they claim contains draconian and colonial articles.
The residents, who are primarily farmers, are opposed to a section of the bill that requires producers or traders to register for a license to operate in the livestock industry, calling it archaic.
They have threatened to take legal action if the CS does not heed their demands, including withdrawing the proposed law, which they claim calls for a fine or jail term on anyone who fails to register their animals.
Meanwhile, in Moi's Bridge, a farmer is counting losses after his sheep were attacked and killed by a suspected wild animal, with residents living in fear of being attacked by the same animal, suspected to be a leopard.
Joseph Melly, a farmer who runs a butchery in Moi's Bridge town, lost 12 sheep valued at Kshs 120,000, and is calling on the government and other stakeholders to take action to guarantee their security and that of their animals.
