By Nyang’au Araka
In Ensakia village of Nyamira County, where dairy farming is both a livelihood and a lifeline, Dennis Rosana now walks through an unusually silent cowshed.
Just days ago, the farmer had 23 healthy cows. Today, nine are gone—victims of what is suspected to be deliberate poisoning.
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It began on Sunday morning as Rosana attended Palm Sunday mass.
Midway through the service, a call came in: something was wrong at home. By the time he rushed back, five of his dairy cows were already dead.
“I found their carcasses lying there,” he recalls, the shock still fresh.
The nightmare did not end there.
On Monday night, four more cows collapsed and died, bringing his total loss to nine animals—mostly Ayrshire and Friesian breeds—each valued between Sh120,000 and Sh150,000.
Altogether, the loss exceeds Sh1.2 million.
Rosana, a former civic leader at the defunct Nyansiongo Town Council and now chairman of the Borabu National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF), suspects the animals’ feed may have been tampered with on Saturday night.
A veterinarian, Onchiri Ratemo, who examined the animals, says initial findings point to ingestion of a toxic substance that caused severe blood clotting.
“We have taken samples to the lab to determine exactly what the cows consumed,” he said, noting that in his 19 years of practice, he had never encountered such a case.
A few cows survived and are currently under treatment, offering Rosana a fragile sense of hope amid the devastation.
Beyond his personal loss, the ripple effects are already being felt across the community.
Several families who depended on milk from his farm have suddenly been cut off.
Neighbours have condemned the incident, calling for thorough investigations to identify those responsible for what they describe as a cruel and calculated act.
The dead animals have since been disposed of in accordance with public health guidelines.
Yet for Rosana, the emotional toll lingers just as heavily as the financial one.
Still, he chooses forgiveness.
“This is not just my loss—it belongs to the whole community,” he says.
“But as a Christian, I pray that whoever did this finds forgiveness.”
