Displaced People Forced to Eat Cats

Nairobi Star (Nairobi)

Wanjohi Gakio

11 May 2011

Twenty-five IDPs were taken ill after eating cats at Gwakung’u IDP camp in Ndaragwa constituency. The victims were from seven families who slaughtered four cats on Monday evening when they failed to get supper. Among those affected were two elderly women aged between 70 and 80, and seven children.

Those who were able to travel to the nearby Kahembe dispensary were treated for stomach problems and diarrhoea, while the rest remained at the camp as they had no means to get to hospital.

Yesterday, many of the affected were still in agony, taking pain killers and drinking water. Joseph Mwangi, a father of eight who slaughtered the cats, said they were extremely hungry. “It was after my wife gave me the go ahead that I slaughtered them at a nearby bush. I then shared the meat among six other families who were also starving,” he said. He said this is not the first time they have eaten cat meat.

His wife Susan Muthoni, who is sick from the meat, said she gave the meat to her already malnourished children. “I prepared it like a normal meal, just like I have done in the past when we have had to feed on the cats. They ate and went to bed only to wake up with diarrhoea and stomach problems,” she said.

Camp chairman Charles Kariuki said the problem had been caused by the government’s failure to provide them with relief food. He said the last time they received food was last December when President Kibaki cancelled his Christmas festivities. “We have written to the members of the provincial administration since January but no one has come to our rescue. They have always given us false promises,” he said. He said school-going children at the camp have stopped attending due to hunger.

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