St. Mary’s Mumias Girls High School has been caught operating an illegal slaughterhouse, supplying uninspected meat to students, teachers, and staff for the past two months.
Mumias West sub-county acting public health officer Geoffrey Mutebi confirmed that his office was unaware of the existence of such a facility within the school premises.
“We’ve not licensed or seen a request for approval of a slaughter slab at the school. If they’re operating such a facility, it’s illegal, and if the facility is illegal, so is the meat inspection exercise undertaken. The meat is for public consumption, and so the safety of learners concerns us. The Public Health Act sets standards which the school is in breach of,” Mutebi stated.
Authorities are now investigating the matter to determine whether the meat posed health risks and to hold the responsible parties accountable.
The school allegedly chose the option to buy and slaughter animals after failing to pay a meat supplier millions of shillings in pending bills.
