MPs Demand Ban To Transportation Of Beef On Boda

The Parliamentary Health Committee has called for an immediate suspension of meat transportation on boda boda, citing serious hygiene and quality concerns....CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

The committee has recommended that the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock ban the practice, following a nationwide inspection of slaughterhouses that revealed alarming deficiencies.

Out of Uganda’s districts, only 50 have functional abattoirs, with many regions lacking proper facilities altogether.

MPs expressed shock at the findings, which showed that Uganda does not have any government-owned slaughterhouses for pigs and chickens, despite the high demand for these types of meat.

Many slaughterhouses, dating back to the colonial era, were found to be in poor condition, lacking basic amenities like toilets and drainage systems.

The committee has directed the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries to immediately halt the use of bodabodas for meat transportation and instead promote the use of refrigerated vehicles to ensure safety and hygiene.

Dr Theophilus Mwesige, commissioner for animal production at the Ministry of Agriculture, announced plans to introduce specialised meat transportation vessels and refrigerated vehicles, which will soon be available on the market.

In addition, MPs criticised the Ministry of Lands and Urban Development for permitting the construction of abattoirs in city centres, contributing to pollution.

This recommendation aims to safeguard public health and improve the quality of Uganda’s meat supply chain.

In Kampala, over four major abattoirs, including Kalerwe and Lufula, rely heavily on bodaboda transport to distribute meat to markets and butcheries.

However, the legislators also raised concerns that certain animals are not being slaughtered from abattoirs.

The Health commitee vice chairperson Samuel Opio noted some abattoirs do not permit the slaughter of pigs, saying this imposes pork eaters in Uganda to health risks, because there are no known formal places where pigs, eaten in Uganda are slaughtered from.

“Most of the abattoirs, we realised, don’t handle the slaughter of pigs. And because of that, it has been left to either private sector, it is not very clear,” Kole North MP Okello said.

“And many of the places that we found were in very deplorable conditions and one of the reasons that was happening was because, under the Halal framework, some species can’t be slaughtered within those abattoirs…CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ARTICLES>>>