Meat impounded, butcheries closed as Hoima launches operation on illegal sale

A section of butcheries remained in suspense as the Hoima City Council’s enforcement team launched an operation to eliminate illegal meat transactions from butchers across town. 

In a Monday “walk to no talk operation” led by the city production officer Samuel Kaheesi Kusiime and the enforcement officer Julius Mwebaze, they impounded over thirty kilograms of meat.

The operation left sellers regretful as their pangas got dry because there was nothing to cut.

The enforcement team said they wanted to ensure public health safety through the meat sold to the public.

Mwebaze said the operation targeted butchers and vendors selling meat with no health clearance stamp from the veterinary authorities.

He noted that the operation aligns with the city council law of prohibiting illegal meat transactions which put public health at risk.

“We realised that some butchers are still selling meat without their clearance from city council authorities and such illegality exposes our public health at risk,” he told tndNews, Uganda.

Mwebaze, however, noted that the operation will remain on but in phases, thus urging butchers to slaughter animals only at approved slaughterhouses and to ensure all meat has proper clearance before it is sold.

Meanwhile, the first phase of operation covered Kiganda, Kiryatete, Mandela, Central Market, Lusaka, and Busiisi cells.

In order to ensure public health safety through meat consumption, the government last year constructed a modern shs2.6 Billion slaughterhouse in Hoima East City, a place recommended for all meat sellers in the area.

At the facility, animal health inspections, and meat inspection are key examinations made before meat is exposed to the public.

The move to construct the facility followed long-standing public health concerns at a forty-year-old slaughterhouse in Kiryatete East Cell which most meat sellers used.

tndNews, Uganda has learned that despite the government’s efforts, some individuals have kept a deaf ear by continuing to use illegal and prohibited animal slaughter areas, thus making them lack access to veterinary inspection stamps.

The production officer says the operation was due to a long-time community’s awareness about public health concerns targeting meat sold.

Dr Oliver Grace Musinguzi, veterinary officer for Hoima City also told this news website that the operation is to ensure that all slaughtered meat is inspected to confirm its safety before public consumption.

She adds that the stamps placed on meat show that it has been authorised and inspected, and are meant to prevent the sale of meat that could harm people.

“Sometimes we realise that some people sell meat of animals which have just undergone vaccination, and such meat is not safe for public consumption. So, those are the key elements as to why we call for their inspection,” she noted.

All the impounded meat was taken to the slaughterhouse (abattoir) for inspection as they waited for owners to pick them up.

By 3:30pm on Monday, none of the affected meat sellers had complied.