A video has emerged online showing a Chinese contractor sacrificing a bull before working on the 16km Western bypass which will run from Gitaru through Wangige to Ndumberi.
In the clip, men are seen pinning a brown bull on the ground before it is slaughtered and its blood drained in a plastic jerrycan and then sprinkled on caterpillars and bulldozers to be used in the construction work.
Chinese Embassy spokesperson Zhang Gang defended the practice terming it “a common, harmless practice by contractors.”
“It’s a common ritual that we do to avoid bad luck,” he said.
The video is said to have been filmed last week during the official launch of construction work.
The question, however, remains whether it is fetish or just a ritual.
Gang said, “As long as it is not a wild animal then that is possible. It a common practice with Chinese nationals that when launching a new project some form of ritual is done. Bulls are usually slaughtered.”
One of the workers on site said the sacrifice is done in stages.
“Even when a building is being constructed, we slaughter animals from the laying of the foundation to various floors and the final works,” he said.
The four-lane highway will connect with the Nairobi-Southern Bypass at Gitaru and the Northern Bypass at Ruaka.
It was commissioned by the government in June last year.
The Kenya National Highways Authority said on Thursday that it has signed an agreement with the China Road and Bridge Corporation to carry out feasibility studies and designs for the development of the bypass as a high capacity expressway.
The bypass, which will be implemented as an Engineering, Procurement and Construction Contract (EPC), will cost about Sh17.3 billion.
“The project is being funded through a concessionary loan from the government of China,” the statement read.
The highway is designed for motorists to drive at 100kph.