December 24, 2018

Uganda upset by Kenya's decision to maintain poultry ban

Kenya, to the chagrin of its neighbour Uganda, will maintain a 2017 ban on poultry coming from the latter, Daily Monitor reported.

The ban remains even after Uganda managed to keep an avian flu outbreak in the country at bay in March last year. The ban also contravenes East African Community rules which facilitate free movement of goods and services in the region, according to the report.

Although Kenyan officials were in Uganda in October 2017 to determine steps taken to control the outbreak, Uganda was surprised by an absence of action on Kenya's part to end the ban, its Assistant Commissioner in charge of Veterinary Regulation and Enforcement, Dr. Doris Kiconco, said.

"We have written several letters requesting that the ban be lifted officially, but we have never received a response," she commented.

Dr. Kiconco added that when the ban was announced, it was done in writing, with the letter being delivered to relevant Ugandan government institutions. However, the letter lifting the ban has not been written.

Without that letter, Ugandan businessmen can be stopped at the Kenyan border along with their poultry and poultry products on the basis of the poultry ban, Dr. Kiconco said.

- Daily Monitor