The ministry of tourism spent Sh2.8 billion in the past two years to compensate casualties of human wildlife conflicts, according to new data released by the ministry of Tourism and wildlife.
This even as the total compensation since 2018 hit Sh4.8 billion, as the human-wildlife conflict incidents for 15-year period, specifically from 2009 to 2024 rose to a total of 57,006 incidents reported.
According to the Cabinet secretary for tourism and wildlife Rebecca Miano, Kenya's outstanding Human-Wildlife Conflict compensation claims stood at over Sh4.16 billion as of February 2023.
“The government has so far paid out Sh2.8 billion in compensation since the current administration took office, leaving a balance of Sh1.36 billion yet to be disbursed. However, challenges such as funding shortfalls, manual claim verification delays, and unresolved legacy claims dating back to 2014 have hampered faster resolution,” said CS Miano.
The payments were made across two financial years — Sh908 million in 2023/24 financial year and Sh950 million in the 2024/25 financial year with an estimated 20,000 claims currently held at the county level, awaiting processing.
In a bid to modernise and streamline the process, the government launched a Digital Compensation Scheme in 2024. Piloted in six counties, the initiative uses a digital platform for collecting and processing data. Small-scale payments, capped at Sh 100,000, are being disbursed through MPESA.
The two-year pilot, set to run until November 2025, facilitates small-scale compensations capped at Sh100,000, disbursed through mobile money platform M-Pesa.
So far, the government has paid out Sh10.1 million to affected individuals, although 804 approved claims totaling Sh29.5 million remain pending.
The ministry said that the digitisation effort will reduce processing delays and improve transparency, but full nationwide implementation will depend on the success of the pilot and future budget allocations.
The new scheme comes at a time, that the country faces an alarming rise in human-wildlife conflict incidents.
In 2023 alone, 8,272 cases were recorded — the highest in 15 years. Though numbers dipped slightly to 7,883 in 2024, the trend remains concerning.
Over the last decade and a half, crop destruction has emerged as the most common type of conflict, with 32,480 reported cases, followed by 15,940 incidents of livestock predation.
Between 2022 and 2024, elephants were the leading cause of conflict, involved in 17,917 incidents, including 7,556 cases of crop destruction, 149 human injuries, and 121 deaths. Hyenas followed, implicated in over 3,100 cases, mostly tied to livestock predation.
“The revised compensation framework now aligns awards with market rates, respecting both lives and livelihoods,” said Miano. “But we must act with urgency. Funding remains inadequate, and we call on the media to help spotlight these stories and push for greater resource mobilization.”
