Kajiado's acting commissioner has taken full charge of driving elephants out of farms following an ultimatum by governor Joseph ole Lenku.
On Wednesday, Ole Lenku warned that residents would take matters into their own hands as the animals have destroyed their property.
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On Thursday, acting commissioner
David Kipkemei, said the work had began.
He spoke in Kajiado after dispatching a helicopter and three vehicles to
Imbuko location where elephants have wreaked havoc.
He apologised to Maasai farmers
of Imbuko and Isara locations on behalf of the government, for the damage caused by jumbos from Amboseli National Park.
Last Friday, morans from Imbuko killed two elephants and said they would pursue more as Kenya Wildlife Service had "turned a deaf ear" to their pleas for the animals to be driven out of their farms.
Kipkemei said he had also established a temporary KWS post with 10 rangers in Imbuko. The rangers will work with regular and administration police to curb human-wildlife conflict.
“The helicopter is being used to drive the jumbos back to the park. We drove some back on Wednesday while I was with the governor," he said.
The administrator asked morans to put their weapons away and allow security personnel to do their part.
He instructed
Mashuuru DCC Stephen Nyakundi and his security team to speedily take the elephants out of the farms.
The governor is on record complaining that Kajiado residents have lost many of their relatives through human-wildlife conflicts yet they have never been compensated.
Peter Moreno, a resident of
Kenyewa/Poka ward, termed the conflict the worst ever while county KWS warden Dickson Korir said it resulted from the drought in the area.
“Nearly all the wild animals are roaming the farms because Amboseli has been hit by drought,” Korir told The Star on phone.
"The area cutting across Imbuko is along the wildlife migratory corridor."