Quails

The snide remarks now littering the social media in relation to the rearing of the fabled quail are not only unfortunate but a serious indictment on public institutions mandated by the law to protect people from ecological and economic harm. As a Certified Fraud Examiner, I have often wondered why it is so easy to lure people in East Africa, particularly Kenyans into fraudulent; ponzi, pyramid and multi-level marketing schemes.

Let us go back into history. In early April 2005, some ingenious fellows convinced farmers in Nyeri County that they had a ready market for Chameleons. The suave businessmen were armed with official documents certifying that they were fully licensed to trade in reptiles and other protected wild species. The farmers were urged to go into the coffee, tea and wild bushes and collect chameleons of all types, shapes and sizes with a promise that in late April, the brokers would bring some foreigners (mzungus) to buy the reptiles at a price ranging between Ksh. 1200 to 1500 depending on size and colour.

On the appointed day, farmers from Mukurwe-ini, Othaya and Tetu Constituencies flocked to Tambaya Market ready to sell their catch at a premium. The farmers had woken up very early so that they could sell their "produce" and return home to tend to their shambas. The usually busy horticultural produce market was literally turned into a reptilian market that day. At 6am the price of one Chameleon was KSh. 1000. By 12.00 pm, it was KSh. 100 and by 6 pm, a mere KSh. 10. The foreign buyer had not turned up and the cunning brokers were long gone. At 7pm, the chameleons were released to their natural habitat. The angry farmers, now counting their losses blocked the Mukurwe-ini–Nyeri and Gakindu-Othaya Roads for hours protesting at the Government for failing to protect them from the tricksters. The incident was widely reported by journalists who found the whole story more entertaining than sad!

In 2007, hundreds of pyramid schemes collapsed after fleecing innocent Kenyans millions of shillings. Whereas the Central Bank of Kenya had issued repeated warnings on the operations of those schemes, its managers feigned lack of statutory power to protect innocent people from the massive fraud. The fraudsters had scuttled banking law by registering as co-operative societies and thus operated as if they had official sanction. Victims of this fraud have never been compensated even after the government formed a commission of inquiry to investigate the scam. More recently in 2011, thousands of people from all over East Africa and beyond trooped to Loliondo village in northern Tanzania to partake of a cupful of the miracle cure from one Rev. Mwasapile, a retired Lutheran Church priest who has no medical training. Many people suffering from HIV Aids, Diabetes, hypertension, cancer and other chronic diseases abandoned their hospital beds and travelled to Loliondo to receive Babu’s miracle cure. By the time the government of Tanzania acted to stop this charade, a lot of innocent people had died in the enduring queues at Loliondo or in their homes.

Fast forward in 2013, the quail and its products have been cited as a panacea to all manner of chronic illnesses without any scientific backing. Even assuming that this is true, nobody has carried out a study to establish the number of people who constantly need quail products for therapeutic purposes. If the main reason for consuming the quail is medicinal, then in the absence of an epidemic of chronic ailments, supply is bound to outstrip demand in the event of mass and uncontrolled production of the bird.

Any prudent investor ought to know that it is consumer markets that sustain production. Despite the attractive prices, the initial market for quail and its products was not based on any consumptive demand. The market is unsustainable since the initial high demand was cyclical at best. It was driven by new entrants (producers) rather than consumers demanding quail products.

The business has all the traits of a multi-level marketing or pyramid scheme. Arguments by the Kenya Wildlife Service that they are not responsible because they only license the farmers do not wash. KWS has experts who know that trade in protected wild species is lucrative because it is highly controlled and restricted. Such products are only sold to high-end customers in exclusive establishments, the kind of establishments which KWS licenses to deal in game meat. The quail is a wild bird and ought to be treated in the same way; KWS should restrict the production and distribution of its products. Unrestricted production of the bird and its products is bound to send the prices crushing down. My heart bleeds for the many innocent Kenyans who are now counting losses owing to this misadventure.

By Capt. (Rtd) Collins Wanderi

Advocate, Commissioner for Oaths, Notary Public and Chair of the Kenya Institute of Forensic Auditors (KeIFA).