Taveta leaders clash with Balala over wildlife money

Leaders from Taita Taveta county on Tuesday clashed with Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala over the management of  Tsavo National Park.

Governor Granton Samboja has been vocal that residents must benefit from proceeds from the park.

Balala has however is the move, saying the county does not have the capacity to run the park if it is converted to a game reserve. 

Balala argues handing over the expansive twin park to the county is a threat to the conservancy. 

"We are saddened by Samboja's move to go to court. He should have consulted other parties to understand the best way forward," Balala said.

The county boss moved to the High Court to compel the state to share revenue collected from Tsavo East and West national parks which he wants converted to a game reserve. 

The CS said wildlife management requires more resources. "The cost of running Kenya Wildlife Service is Sh8 billion while the revenue collected is Sh4 billion. This means the extra Sh4 billion comes from the Treasury. No single county has the capacity to manage that," he said.

On Tuesday, Samboja's political adviser Mwandawiro Mghanga hit back at the CS insisting that locals must get a share from the wildlife.

Mghanga accused Balala of "trivializing real issues."

"We suffer human-wildlife conflict where we have lost many lives. The county is currently food insecure as a result of invasion from wildlife yet locals have nothing to show for hosting them," charged Mghanga said.

The former Wundanyi MP said there is a long list of victims of human-wildlife conflict yet to be compensated.

KWS has paid Sh35.6 million as compensation for only 10 deaths out of 23  reported between 2014 and 2016 in Taita Taveta.

The Wildlife Conservation and Management Act 2013 awards Sh5 million for loss of life while injury attracts Sh3 million.

Permanent disability attracts Sh3 million.

Any other injury attracts a maximum of Sh2 million depending on the extent of the injury.

Over 1,500 cases are pending for compensation in Taita Taveta. 

Mghanga said residents must benefit from at least 30 per cent of revenue generated from the parks.

"We are however ready to negotiate," he said citing Maasai Mara and Samburu which he said locals were benefiting from.

Mghanga now wants the CS to apologise to the residents.

Samboja who has been on warpath with the CS said the community does not receive benefits from wildlife despite the two parks occupying 62 per cent of the total county landmass.

The governor wants the county government to be allowed to start collecting revenue from the parks. 

He said residents have continually suffered from the conflict despite the government earning billions from wildlife.  

Most parts of the county have experienced perennial human-wildlife conflict resulting in deaths, destruction of property and injuries.

Balala further disclosed that wildlife generates at least 70 per cent of the Sh150 billion generated from tourism annually.

The generated revenue, he said, is channelled to Consolidated Fund which is later shared to counties.   

He argued that communities benefit from the allocation from the national government and that there's no provision for any revenue to be directly submitted to Taita Taveta.

"We cannot give a direct benefit from Tsavo National Park to the communities. The conservancy happened to be a national park in 1946, so these are the structures we have inherited," Balala said. 

In May, Taita Taveta county assembly passed a motion seeking to push KWS to remit to the county at least 30 per cent of the over Sh60 billion collected annually from Tsavo. 

However, Balala asked Samboja to borrow a leaf from other counties that are struggling to manage national reserves. 

There is also a dilemma on how the revenue would be divided among the counties bordering Tsavo if the park is converted into a game reserve.

Apart from Taita Taveta, Tsavo borders Kitui, Makueni, Kilifi, Kwale, Tana River and Kajiado counties. Almost all the seven counties have asked for a cut from the park.