MPs push for tough penalties. tech tracking to curb livestock theft

Members of Parliament have called for far-reaching legal, technological, and administrative reforms to curb rising cases of livestock and produce theft. 

The lawmakers made the proposals amid concerns that the vice is crippling rural livelihoods and fueling insecurity across the country. 

In their contributions on the Prevention of Livestock and Produce Theft Bill, 2023, the MPs overwhelmingly backed the proposed legislation but called for tough penalties, enhanced enforcement mechanisms, and adoption of modern tracking technologies to combat what they described as an increasingly organised criminal enterprise. 

The Bill, co-sponsored in the Senate, seeks to provide a comprehensive legal framework to prevent livestock theft. 

It also seeks to regulate livestock movement, improve identification and branding systems in addition to strengthening inter-agency coordination between national and county governments. 

MPs drawn from pastoralist and highland farming regions narrated the crime has evolved into an organised, cross-county enterprise involving cartels, rogue traders and weak enforcement systems. 

Matungulu MP Stephen Mule said the cost of livestock theft is high and small-scale farmers continue to lose their only source of livelihood to criminals, particularly during rainy seasons when security is strained. 

He cited a recent incident in his constituency where a resident lost cattle after armed criminals raided his homestead at night. 

“This man had no other source of income. When his livestock was taken, he was left with nothing. Such incidents are demoralising rural farmers who depend entirely on livestock for survival, school fees, and household needs," he said. 

Mule warned that livestock theft is no longer random but increasingly coordinated, often targeting vulnerable farmers.  

He urged counties to establish dedicated livestock protection systems and adopt electronic branding and tracking technologies similar to those used by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to monitor wildlife. 

“If KWS can tag lions and elephants, why can’t we electronically tag cows? A helpless farmer could have traced stolen livestock electronically, and the police would know exactly where they are,” he said. 

The MPs called for stiff penalties, saying that current fines are too weak to deter criminals. 

“A fine of Sh100,000 is nothing to someone who has stolen 100 cows. We must enhance penalties and ensure long jail terms actually deter crime,” he said. 

Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri raised similar concerns, saying that livestock theft has become a structured criminal economy rather than petty theft. 

“Livestock theft is more of a trade than petty thievery. Sometimes 1,000 cows disappear and are never recovered. Where do they go?” Posed Kiunjuri. 

He, however, said that the Bill will only succeed if cartels are directly confronted. 

“Before we address that, whatever we try to bring up will be futile. Enforcement agencies must go after networks financing and facilitating the theft,” he said. 

Kiunjuri also raised concern over slaughterhouses and eateries, questioning the origin of meat sold in urban centres, even as he proposed strict regulation of meat supply chains, including documentation for all catering establishments. 

“You wonder how a joint is opened today and they are permanently supplied, yet they never go to slaughterhouses. Where do they get their supplies from?” He posed. 

Marsabit County MP, Naomi Waqo said pastoralist communities have suffered decades of raids, leaving families impoverished and vulnerable and described livestock theft as a matter of survival for pastoralist families. 

“Just reflect on the life of a simple livestock farmer who has 20 or 50 cows. That is all they have,” she said. “When thieves come and take them, it is like a death sentence.” 

Waqo, who said her constituents have suffered repeated raids, urged Parliament to consider life imprisonment for offenders and called for adoption of compulsory identification systems to enable rapid recovery of stolen animals. 

“These people destroy families and livelihoods. They should face life imprisonment so they know the consequences of their actions. In Marsabit, livestock is everything. When animals are stolen, entire families collapse economically,” she said. 

Samburu County MP Pauline Lenguris regretted that livestock theft has fuelled long-standing inter-community conflicts. 

“This Bill is going to harmonise the livestock sector because we have had a lot of conflicts,” she said. “If animals are branded and labelled, stolen livestock will easily be identified and returned.” 

She called for caution in security operations, warning against targeting innocent herders during recovery missions. 

Chuka-Igambang’ombe MP Patrick Ntwiga and his Manyatta counterpart, Gitonga Mukunji decried the normalisation of livestock theft, with Mukunji accusing security agencies of complicity. 

“The Anti-Stock Theft Unit is a moribund unit. We must realise this is a problem that cuts across the country,” Ntwiga said. 

Mukunji linked livestock theft to broader governance failures and alleged cartel involvement in high-level security structures. 

“There is a cartel system that is well-oiled and politically instigated,” he claimed.