Elgeyo Marakwet county has demanded Sh1.37 billion in accrued land rates from the Kenya Forest Service.
Finance executive Isaac Kamar, on behalf of governor Alex Tolgos, has written to the Chief Conservator of Forests demanding payment of the debt accrued over a decade.
In the letter dated November 7 and seen by the Star, Kamar says KFS owed the money to three defunct civil authorities in the county before 2013 when devolution took effect.
He said in the letter that the service owed Sh489 million to Marakwet, Keiyo and Iten/Tambach county councils. The letter wascopied to the county Ecosystem Conservator.
The amount has attracted interest over the years and accumulated annual rates amounting to more than Sh1.3 billion.
“The purpose of this letter is to ask you to remit this outstanding amount to the county government,” the letter reads.
Lands executive Abraham Barsosio confirmed that the county was demanding payment of the rates.
“It’s true the county has written demanding the payments from them and we are hoping they will respond by remitting the same to the county’s finance department,” he said.
The executive, however, declined to state what action they would take if KFS did not pay.
CONFRONTATION LOOMS
“They were paying initially and we are hoping they will do so as per our letter,” Barsosio said.
He said Governor Tolgos will decide on the next course of action should KFS fail to pay.
Another confrontation looms between the county and KFS after the former Chief Conservator of Forests Emilio Mugo wrote a letter authorising Raiply Woods company as the sole firm allowed to harvest timber in major forests in the region.
Raiply had requested authorisation to harvest trees in Kaptagat, Sabor, Kipkabus and Tenant forests, which Mugo approved before he left office.
The harvesting was stopped following the government moratorium on forests which has since been extended by one year.
Barsosio said they would not accept the authorisation to Raiply because it was unfair and sidelined the other small saw millers and residents in the county.
“It’s like having a cow and your work is to hold the horns as someone else milks it and later goes away with all the milk,” he said.
In February, Tolgos accused KFS of ignoring communities in forest conservation.
He said that the 65,000-hectare Cherangany water tower and the 21,000-hectare Embobut Forest are owned and conserved by clans.
He asked KFS to involve residents in conservation to end animosity bewith the service. KFS in December last year evicted illegal dwellers, including members of the indigenous Sengwer community.
Civil society groups said many evictions were violent. They inc luded Amnesty International, KNCHR, National Coalition for Human Rights Defenders and Katiba Institute-.
The governor said some KFS wardens were harassing locals in the forests instead of seeking ways to incorporate them in its management and conservation.
“Locals have stated that they are being harassed by wardens but we have asked them to continue conserving forests. There will be no need to deploy wardens if they play their role,” Tolgos said.