Hundreds of people in a poor district of Kenya's capital scrambled up a mountain of dumped maize yesterday, ignoring warnings the food was contaminated. Ignoring the health risk, slum residents pulled up their trousers or skirts and waded through mud and sewage to scoop the yellow maize into sacks, witnesses said.
"I will wait until my neighbours eat theirs, and if they don't fall ill then I will also eat mine," a jobless woman told Reuter.
The scramble began on Sunday as news spread that lorries had dumped about 800 tonnes of spoiled maize at a quarry in Embakasi, near Nairobi's international airport. Kenyan newspapers reported yesterday the maize was from a food relief consignment and was supposed to have been burned.
Yesterday, hundreds of people massed at the quarry and carried the maize away on their shoulders or on carts, bicycles and cars. The maize appeared to have been partly destroyed by pests and was turning reddish from its original yellow.
Maize is the staple food for Kenyans but its price has risen because of drought earlier this year.
Nearly half of Kenya's 29 million people live below the poverty line and at least 11 million people are unemployed, according to official statistics.
Some people said they were collecting it for a traditional alcoholic drink while others wanted to use it for maizemeal. One young man said he had drunk alcohol made from some of the maize and saw no immediate health risk.
Health inspectors from the Nairobi City Council visited the quarry yesterday but did not interfere with the maize collection. They also offered no comments to the media.
AFP reports:
Relative calm prevailed in Mombasa yesterday, after sporadic overnight attacks caused fear along the Kenyan coast as President Daniel arap Moi set an ultimatum for the return of stolen firearms used to commit atrocities.
President Moi, who was visiting the region following this month's bloody ethnic violence, said on Sunday a group of men who stole 40 guns and several thousand bullets had a week to return the arms or risk stern action. Attacks continued in the volatile Likoni area of Mombasa.