Residents of Nakuru County have backed the proposal by the national government to transfer the management of Amboseli National Park to Kajiado County.
They said this will lessen human-wildlife conflict and guarantee the local community that it will benefit from revenue generated from the park.
Residents spoke at the Rift Valley Regional Commissioner’s plenary hall in Nakuru during a public participation on the transfer of the national park to the county government of Kajiado.
The advisory committee headed by former Machakos Deputy Governor Mr Francis Maliti was formed through gazette notice No.1939 in February 2024 after a Presidential directive in August last year.
The committee has been going around the eight regions to get public views on the framework for the transfer of functions of the park to the Kajiado County government.
“We believe the county can handle Amboseli National Park. We have faith that the devolved unit will look into the environmental issues that Kajiado County can look into biodiversity as it is a signatory to the various conservation treaties,” said Pastor Bellie Onyango who represented people with disabilities.
Pastor Onyango said the fact that the community has been hosting the park for a long time since the 1970s, bears the brunt of human-wildlife conflict.
“Almost 80 per cent or more of the animals in the ecosystem are not found in the park boundaries but in the group ranches and conservancies and there will be sustainability if the park is brought back in the hands of the Kajiado County,” he added.
Pastor Onyango however emphasized that Kajiado County, governance and leadership issues need to be interrogated first before the transfer of the park to the county.
“We need accountability and transparency. I suggest that an autonomous outfit that is free from political interference be established to manage resources from the park so that they benefit the people including those at the grassroots and also be used to carry out infrastructural development of water, roads, schools among other infrastructure instead of only benefiting those at the national level,” said the clergyman.
Former Nakuru County Council civic leader Ms Jane Simita said the transfer of the park to the county will enable many youths to get jobs.
She said that failure to transfer the park by the national government will create a problem of co-existing with the community because they have generously donated one million acres towards transfer.
The former councillor indicated that the local community has over 6,000 wardens from conservancies against KWS’s 25.
Ms Simita indicated that though the park generates Sh1.5 billion annually there is little the revenue has done in terms of development.
Mr Dan Murugu from the civil society stated that there should be extensive training of county personnel who will be in charge of the park noting that other similar facilities, which were transferred to the counties, have failed due to poor management, untrained staff to handle wildlife and lack of capacity from the administration managing them.
He said should the county take over Amboseli Park it should ensure that the natural resource benefits the whole country and not a few communities.
Mr Murugu indicated that the Kajiado County Government should ensure that conservation efforts that have been well sustained by the KWS and the community in Amboseli National Park are not destroyed.
He said the county should foster public-private partnerships to maintain infrastructure, including roads and bridges inside the park, connected to other natural parks.
However, Mr Gabriel Muasya from Rongai said that the park should be managed by KWS, which has the capacity to manage and secure wild animals and natural heritage and transferring it to the county will interfere with the ecosystem.
Mr Muasya, a conservator, said that the transfer would interfere with the migration of wildlife from Mara to Amboseli and Tsavo West, observing that the county cannot manage the park.
He said that the timing was wrong and that the push to transfer the park is not genuine, adding that the revenue collected and resources inside the park are attracting fewer tourists.
Mr Paul Okuku an ecologist submitted that KWS has the machinery and personnel, including trackers to the wildlife, unlike the county, transferring it will destroy the good wildlife practices maintained by KWS officers.
He said that the national park should remain at the national government level to offer recreation and employment to all, and attract intentional tourism.
Speaking after the public participation, Maliti said they engaged all key stakeholders including KWS, the State Department of Wildlife, the Kajiado Governor and the county assembly on matters of tourism and wildlife.
“The issue is very emotive and one of the major issues that is coming out is that Kajiado residents are saying they have suffered a lot due to human-wildlife conflict and they are not benefiting from the park as a resource and also there are those non-residents who are saying it should not be transferred to the county since it’s a national resource,” said Maliti.
He assured the public that their views would be considered and the committee would advise the president accordingly. Mr Maliti said they have also engaged stakeholders in matters of tourism in the national government.
He revealed that they have received more than 20 memorandums from various individuals and institutions on the transfer of the national park.
By Anne Mwale and Megg Njoki
