Edgar Batte
18 August 2008
While the recent arrest of two men suspected of selling dog meat shocked Kampala, the city's abattoirs and butcheries are grappling with problems of their own that could send chills down the stomach of any meat consumer.
As one walks past Sebugenyi Mukasa's rent-out houses in Wankulukuku on the outskirts of Kampala, the strong stench wafting in the air is unbearable.
Sebugenyi's houses lack a toilet and the smell tells the story of the shenanigans his tenants get down to under the cover of darkness.
"Those sleeping in his houses discharge their human waste in polythene bags which they throw over their roofs. They collect their urine in jerrycans and pour it out in the night," explains a resident, Rose Nabossa.
Yet opposite Sebugenyi's house is a butchery, which is infested with rather fat flies. In the recent past, according to residents, the state of the butchery forced many of its customers to shun it. Eventually, the residents raised a complaint with Kampala City Council (KCC) and KCC health inspector, Peter Kirundi, helped them file a case against Mukasa in the City Hall Court.
"Sebugenyi pleaded guilty and was fined Shs100,000. He was also given two weeks to erect a toilet and create a healthier environment around his place," explained, Stephen Okuku, a state attorney at the City Hall Court.
The location of butcheries like the one at Sebugenyi's premises raises serious queries about the safety of meat that is consumed in Kampala and other parts of the country found in equally squalid conditions.
In Kampala alone, according to KCC chief health inspector Mohammed Kirumira, there are more than 700 butcheries - many of which are operating without authorisation from City Council.
"There are so many illegal slaughtering places in Kampala. They are very dirty and they're all over the city and beyond. Plus, we don't have a gazetted place for the slaughtering of chicken and we're trying to establish a good place for this," said Mr Kirumira.
At Wambizi, the main pig slaughterhouse in Nalukolongo, the construction is pitiable with poor water drainage given its swampy location.
Meat value chain standards set by the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UBOS) require every butchery to have sufficient space, refrigerating facilities like a freezer or fridge as well as clean water at all times - requirements that very few butcheries in the city, let alone the countryside, meet.
UNBS Standards Development Manager Patrick Ssekitoleko says the standards body has set quality requirements for the entire supply chain right from the farm, the transportation facilities and methods, up to the slaughterhouse.
"Meat should not to be transported on open pick-ups, in taxis or polythene bags like the case is in Kampala but in clean holding boxes which are properly constructed or in enclosed vehicles," said Mr Ssekitoleko.
Mr Ssekitoleko however admits that the standards body has not been efficient in enforcing the standards. Mr Kirumira admitted similar failure at KCC, although he blamed it on the inability of the city council to provide sufficient logistics. Mr Kirundi said there are only 10 health inspectors who have to keep tabs on affairs at all the butcheries.
"We are not enough on ground and this has always been the complaint we've always raised without much success for more than the last 10 years," Mr Kirundi told Daily Monitor.
Even the five authorised slaughterhouses continue to struggle to maintain the highest hygiene standards, according to KCC officials.
"The major challenge is their location in swampy areas," Kirumira said, adding that the slaughterhouses continue to discharge waste products like dung, blood into water channels.
At the biggest city abattoir, which has since been expanded to accommodate more slaughterhouses, the drainage system sometimes gets clogged. At the Basajjabalaba abattoir on Spring Road, only a handful of operators meet the minimum standards. Apart from having boots, it is evident that most butchers there have done little to keep their overcoats spotless, with blood stains looking a week or two old.
Duncan Ssesazi, a nutritionist attached to Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST), said meat from a number of the slaughterhouses and butchers could be a potential health hazard largely because of the procedures used in slaughtering the animals.
Amos Hashaka Ndungutse, a nutritionist attached to Kisoro Hospital, said unsafe meat could lead to dysentery, cholera and typhoid fever. To avoid such diseases, the government needs to step in and ensure that the country's abattoirs and butcheries follow the guidelines set out by the standards body.
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