Taita Taveta leaders are working on a plan to take over management of Tsavo National Park currently run by the national government.
The leaders say they will soon roll out a campaign calling on residents to append their signatures to petition the Senate to pass the necessary legislation to allow the county government take ownership of the park.
The leaders are studying provisions in the County Governments Act 2012 with a view to conducting a county referendum on who should run the park.
Nominated MCA Christopher Mwambingu yesterday said although Tsavo occupies about 62 per cent of the county’s land, residents are not benefiting from the park.
“Every year, Sh15 billion is generated from Tsavo but we do not get even a cent, not even projects from their corporate social responsibility programmes,” Mwambingu said.
He said the petition is supported by all elected leaders in the county. The MCA, who chairs the county assembly’s Public Accounts Committee, spoke on the sidelines of a workshop by his committee in Mombasa.
“We have fought to have our people get contracts and jobs in the park but we have not been successful because we are not in charge. This is unfair and against the Constitution, which allows local residents to benefit from the extraction of natural resources within their locality,” he added.
Mwambingu said other than failing to contribute to the county revenue, the Kenya Wildlife Service, which runs the park, has failed to compensate residents during human-wildlife conflict.
He said it is unfair for Taita Taveta county to be locked out of the management of Tsavo while Narok is in charge of the Maasai Mara National Park.
He said the committee is finalising its findings and recommendations on pending audit reports from 2014-2015 to 2017-2018 financial years before the county assembly.
