Three months have passed since Ndulu Masavu lost her donkey to thieves, and the peasant farmer is still suffering. Since then, she has scoured the main livestock markets across Kitui County, hoping to find it.
“Mwiitu was my main source of livelihood,” she told the Nation at Kakululo Village, referring to the donkey by its nickname. Until the thieves hiding struck under the cover of darkness, the single mother of five used her donkey to boost her household income by fetching water from River Kithyoko and delivering it to nearby homesteads and construction sites. “I am devastated,” she told Nation.
Authorities say a fresh wave of donkey theft, which has rocked Kitui County, has caused distress to hundreds of rural households and exposed communities to the vagaries of climate change.
Theft of donkeys cast a long shadow over this year’s World Donkey Day celebrations at Nguutani Township in Kitui County on Friday last week.
“Unless we are careful, we are going to wipe donkeys out of the face of earth within no time. We have a moral duty to protect donkeys for future generations,” said Migwani Deputy County Commissioner Rukia Chitechi, who has been on the frontline against illegal donkey trade.
To address donkey theft, the Catholic Diocese of Kitui, which has been at the centre of a campaign to promote the welfare of donkeys, has turned to Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. Caritas, the development arm of the Catholic Diocese of Kitui, has embarked on inserting microchips in donkeys in the county to enhance security against theft.
A microchip contains vital data such as the name of the donkey, its medical history and the identity of its owner. The idea is to make it easy to trace a donkey when it is in a crowd.
“We have started with microchipping the donkeys which we have rehomed before expanding the programme to the entire population of donkeys in Kitui County,” Florence Ndeti, the director of Caritas, told the Nation in an interview on the sidelines of the World Donkey Day celebrations at Nguutani Township. “Once a donkey is lost, we deploy RFID scanners in livestock markets to trace it,” she added.
The donkey microchipping programme has boosted confidence among donkey owners. “We feel relatively secure. Thieves cannot easily locate the microchip to tamper with it,” said Redempta Ndungwa, one of the farmers who has benefited from the free microchipping programme.
The use of microchips to curb donkey theft comes against the backdrop of runaway illegal donkey slaughter and trade. Although the government closed down illegal donkey slaughterhouses in 2020, citing unsustainable operations, illegal slaughtering of donkeys persists.
A man and his donkey walk along Kitui-Garissa highway on February 13, 2021.
Photo credit: Sila Kiplagat | Nation Media Group
According to Brooke East Africa, a non-governmental organisation which promotes the welfare of donkeys across the region, a growing appetite for donkey hides in China drives their illegal slaughtering in Kenya.
“Donkey hides are a source of ejiao, a traditional Chinese medicine. China has turned to Africa to meet its growing demand for ejiao in the wake of a drastic drop in the population of its donkeys in recent years,” said Brooke East African CEO Raphael Kinoti.
Kitui County, which is home to the highest population of donkeys in the country has paid a heavy price. Three weeks ago, the police in Kitui County impounded a truck ferrying 3,721 donkey skins along the Thika-Garissa highway.
“In December last year, we intercepted 136 donkeys being ferried in the Mwingi region. In February, we intercepted 38 donkeys in the same region. In March, we intercepted 62 donkeys in the Nguutani region,” said Ms Chitechi.
Sustained outcry from donkey owners has pushed authorities and other stakeholders to intensify efforts to address illegal trade in donkeys.
“Slaughtering of donkeys in Kenya is illegal. Kenya has joined other members of the African Union in banning the slaughtering of donkeys for their skins. The African Union adopted a 15-year moratorium against slaughtering donkeys for their skin in 2024,” said Mr Kinoti whose organisation supports the rollout of RFID technology to curb theft of donkeys. Although it is promising, the technology has its shortcomings.
The main shortcoming of the RFID technology is that it cannot prevent the slaughtering of donkeys. The technology only works in cases in which the RFID scanner can be applied manually. This means it cannot work in cases in which a donkey is taken far away.
“We are looking forward to deploying Global Positioning System tracking technology in conjunction with the government. It makes it easy to trace the donkeys on the telephone,” said Ambrose Musyimi, the manager in charge of Mtunze Punda Ikutunze, a donkey welfare programme at Caritas.
