Starving Kitui woman tries to sell owl to buy food

A mother of five on Tuesday stunned residents at a market in Kitui town as she tried to sell an owl in a desperate effort to raise money to buy food.

Kamene Kakai of Museve village in Kitui Central constituency was selling the live bird for Sh250.

She said she had nothing else to sell at the market and captured the owl to sell and buy food for her family.

She said she could not cook the owl for her children because it is not fit for human consumption and had to trek 15 kilometres from her home to the market with the hope of selling it.

“I had no choice but to bring it to the market to sell it as I cannot watch my children die of hunger,” she said.

Ms Kakai looked unperturbed by the huge crowd of curious onlookers she had attracted as she pleaded with people to buy the bird, often associated with bad omens in many communities.

“My children will starve to death unless someone volunteers to buy this bird. I wish I can get a buyer offering Sh500 or even Sh1,000, I will buy food to last us several days,” she told the Nation.

She said the money would allow her to buy subsidised maize flour.

The incident interrupted business at the busy Kalundu market for more than an hour as traders and shoppers watched her try to sell the bird.

She had not found a buyer by the time of this posting. None of the onlookers was willing to buy the bird as trade in wildlife is prohibited under Kenyan wildlife conservation laws.