Drama erupted at a carpentry shop in Hyrax estate in Nakuru East yesterday afternoon after residents stormed the shop where two young men were found slaughtering a tortoise.
Allegedly, the carpenters intended to consume the tortoise as meat.
An eye witness, Joseph Omuru, told this writer that he saw the two carpenters identified as Kelvin Osundwa and Cleophas Shamala smashing the animal’s shell at the workshop’s backyard in a suspect manner. This is after he entered the shop to enquire about purchasing some furniture.
He said he mobilised other residents to witness the strange habit but they arrested the carpenters and handed them to police at Teachers police post.
Another resident, Enock Mwaura, said the carpenters had formed a habit of hunting for tortoises that inhabit the jungles adjacent to the Hyrax Hill Prehistoric Site and Museum before slaughtering them for meat consumption.
He said the two had been boasting that tortoise meat is delicious and that they could not waste money buying meat from butcheries when they could get free meat from the bushes.
“It has been a habit. We know these guys consume tortoise meat which they claim is a normal food delicacy in their rural backyard in Butere,” said Mwaura.
When contacted for comment, the deputy Museum curator Zakayo Akwaro said he was not aware of residents slaughtering tortoises for meat. He however said that the museum had a programme in place to rescue stray wild animals.
“We encourage residents to surrender wild animals they come across in the bushes near the museum and we pay them a little money. The museum runs a tortoise pit that attracts visitors at the museum,” he said.
Confirming the incident, police officer in charge of Teachers police post, Mercy Musyoka, said police were investigating the matter before instituting criminal charges against the two carpenters.