By Betty Luke
Isiolo residents’ hope of ever benefiting from the export abattoir, whose construction started 18 years ago with an aim of transforming the economic fortunes of livestock keepers in the region, is increasingly fading away.
President William Ruto’s last week’s announcement that it could take longer before the abattoir is operationalized has left residents and pastoralists a dejected lot.
Despite more than Sh1 billion having been pumped into the project, the facility is yet to open its doors, raising concerns over its management and authorities seriousness in having it up and running.
The export abattoir that was handed over to the pioneer county government in 2014 was among four built under the late Mwai Kibaki’s Vision 2030 economic stimulus program and which was supposed to be completed two years later. The others are in Wajir, West Pokot and Garissa counties.
By 2020, an estimated Sh1 billion had been pumped into the facility which was co-funded by the two levels of government and whose initial cost was Sh850, 000.
In the same year, the facility secured Sh800 million from the World Bank, with officials claiming to have received only Sh450 million, for the purchase of equipment including chillers, washing machines, refrigerators, and rollers among others.
The said equipment were delivered early last year.
In 2023, then Trade CS Moses Kuria during an inspection visit revealed that the government had secured Sh42 billion funding from the Afreximbank together with African Finance Corporation out of which Sh28 billion was supposed to go to the abattoir while the remaining would support the expansion of Isiolo International Airport.
In February last year, Agriculture CEC Yusuf Mohammed told former Agriculture CS Mithika Linturi that a borehole drilled at the abattoir was producing saline water and that they needed an extra Sh170 million to sort out such and ‘other challenges’ to ensure the facility was operationalized.
At the time, Linturi announced that the facility would be up and running within two months but extended the window with a month due to some unforeseen challenges.
“The contractor has promised that work will be complete in 60 days but due to the unforeseen barriers, we have given him an extra month to finalize works,” the CS said.
In November last year Irrigation Chief Officer Godana Dida had said that although the county government has already pumped Sh412 million into the project, more resources were needed to cover the remaining construction of roads, gates and landscaping that he said was crucial for the operation of the abattoir.
Among the incomplete aspects of the facility, which is expected to offer job opportunities to hundreds of residents, is the feedlot that is located a few kilometres from the facility and which the county government says needs about Sh130 million to complete.
Isiolo Governor Abdi Ibrahim Hassan has occasionally pledged that his administration was committed to the completion of the facility that he said would improve the economic status of the livestock keepers.
The assurance has been no different from his two predecessors who during their tenure kept promising that the abattoir was almost complete and would be opened ‘soon’.
Shortly after he was elected to office in 2017, Governor Mohamed Abdi Kuti said the facility was 60 percent complete and that it required Sh300 million for the final touches that included modification to international standards.
In September 2019, the ex-Livestock Minister announced that his administration had secured a foreign investor who would complete the facility by May 2020.
A transaction expert from the Kenya Marketing Council was set to support the county government through the negotiation process with the said investor.
In a surprise turn of events, Governor Hassan while delivering his speech during last year’s Jamhuri Day Celebrations said his administration had just secured a foreign investor to help manage and run the facility.
“My administration has following a vigorous and competitive tendering process identified a private investor to partner with in operating and managing the Isiolo Export abattoir,” the county boss said adding that the partnership would enhance prosperity and improve livestock market in the county.
President William Ruto last week claimed the government had pumped Sh1 billion, assuring that the facility would be operationalized before the end of the year.
“The government is keen on ensuring the abattoir is up and running as it will open the region to the export market globally for the benefit of the locals,” noted Dr Ruto.
The delayed completion of the abattoir exposes thousands of livestock keepers who account for over 70 percent of the county’s economy to further suffering and exploitation from middlemen.
The livestock keepers have expressed disappointment with the delay that they said had exposed them to losses and exploitation.
“We expected that the abattoir would help fatten our livestock following the prolonged drought but it was not the case,” noted James Eyan, a livestock keeper in Isiolo’s Burat ward.
The residents also expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s failure to clearly communicate the status of the facility and the amount of money that had been spent on it.
“Failure by the government to ensure openness in the status of the abattoir indicates some money might have been misappropriated. We want accountability for all the money spent on the facility,” said Ms Amina Hassan.
Once complete, the facility is expected to process about 474, 000 animals every year estimated to bring about Sh400 million revenue after seven years, impact at least 20, 000 households while creating direct jobs for at least 80 people.
