Kenya Meat Commission Debt Free As Farmers Paid Sh52 million In 6 Months

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 21 – After being in the doldrums for decades in a period characterized by years of neglect and wanton corruption, the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) following radical changes, is gradually revitalising the country’s meat sector.

According to President Uhuru Kenyatta, the story of a ‘reborn’ Meat Commission is one of the country’s success stories in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The Department of Defence took one year to refurbish the Commission and re-opened it in April 2021. I am happy to note that in six months, KMC got out of debt,” President Kenyatta said.

The management and assets of the commission were moved from the Agriculture Ministry to the Ministry of Defence earlier this year.

KMC, which boasts being a cut above the rest before its fall from grace decades ago – has now seen its fortunes turn for the better with the number of heads of cattle being slaughtered on a daily basis rising from 8 to 185. 

“This is 23 times what the old KMC used to slaughter. KMC is paying farmers within 72 hours for livestock delivered at the rate of Sh185 per kilo for cattle. In fact, the commission had paid out a total of Sh 52 million to farmers between the months of April to September 2020,” Kenyatta revealed.

By comparison, after the new management of KMC reopened its processing plant in April of 2021 and has to date paid out Sh643 million representing an increment of over 1,200 percent according to the President.

Back in May, President Kenyatta officially oversaw the re-opening of the rehabilitated KMC factory in Athi River, Machakos County.

The infrastructural transformation at KMC including the establishment of feeding lots in its ranches in order to post yields, and an increased product line now has KMC setting its sights on the global market.

Already through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), KMC is expected to not only sell skin and hides to local tanneries but also across the continent. This is set to boost the country’s exports and will join a list of food items already exported globally in Kenya.

The militarization however of yet another government agency saw the High Court in February 2021 rule that the transfer of KMC to the Defence Ministry was a violation of Article 10 of the constitution on public participation.

The move was deemed unconstitutional and the government given 90 days to have KMC domiciled at the Agriculture Ministry.

The Attorney General’s office expressed its dissatisfaction with the ruling saying that various administrative actions have already been taken and as a result a threat to its operation.

“The revival of this factory under the auspices of Department of Defence is significant to our livestock sector. For this is the mainstay for at least half of our population and without doubt and as we know this sector has enormous local but also export potential,” Kenyatta said, back in May.

During an interview with the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) back in July, Chief of the Defence Forces General Robert Kibochi revealed that the country’s security sector obtains their meat from the commission and that under their supervision they are able to ensure the securitisation of such products.

“We are very happy as the security sector because all the meat that we are eating is coming from the Kenya Meat Commission,” he said.

“This itself is very important. When you think about warfare and the need to securitise certain products…because anyone could use meat products to contaminate the entire force,”

He explained that “The KDF inherently has a huge reservoir of expertise across the entire spectrum whether you are talking about engineering, medical and marine engineering. These are resources that have been developed by the taxpayers…why shouldn’t they be used to develop activities that will help the Kenyan people?”

The KDF spent Sh650 million to rehabilitate the facility.  A while back, a whopping Sh1.5 billion allocated by the Treasury to the Ministry of Agriculture did little or nothing to revive the commission.