Herders warned to remove livestock from game reserve

The Baringo County government has issued a one-month ultimatum to herdsmen who have encroached into the Lake Kamnarok Game Reserve in Kerio Valley to move their livestock out.

Failure to do so will see them risk their animals being confiscated and auctioned.

According to the County Executive in charge of Tourism, Industry and Enterprise Development, Mr Kipchumba Keitany, the county government has embarked on reviving the lost glory of the world famous lake which has since dried up due to rampant human activities like wanton cutting down of trees and charcoal burning.

“We are ready to make unpopular decisions for the sake of conservation of the environment.

“Kerio Valley people should not enter into the wrong books of history for being responsible for the death of the lake,” Mr Keitany told Nation.co.ke.

PARTNERED WITH KWS

The county government has already partnered with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to revive the lake which was once prided as being the second largest ecosystem in Africa after Lake Chad.

Excavators are already at the reserve to help de-silt the lake.

In the deal, the county government will remove the soil which is responsible for silting the ox-bow lake while KWS will help erect a solar-powered electric fence around the 87.7 kilometre reserve.

“Surveyors will soon be sent to the reserve to mark the boundary. We want to regain the original depth of the lake which was initially nine metres deep by scooping the soil,” said Mr Keitany.

He said that they were expecting to have completed the de-silting process before the onset of the rainy season which will see water settle at the lake permanently. The rain water will supplement water from rivers which flow into the lake.

TREE PLANTING

Mr Keitany said that the county government in conjunction with other bodies like the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) will soon embark on a massive tree planting exercise, especially on the Tugen Hills, to prevent more soil from being washed downstream which is one of the reasons for the silting and disappearance of the world famous lake.

Lake Kamnarok Game Reserve was once famous for its vast flora and with a population of more than 10,000 crocodiles, 400 elephants, 13 species of other mammals and a variety of birds of rare species.

GRAZING FIELD

But following rampant human activities, the lake, which was gazetted as a reserve in 1983, is now bare land and has been turned into a grazing field.

The neighbouring Elgeyo-Marakwet County has already effected the grazing ban with more than 300 cattle being impounded last week at Rimoi Game Reserve.

Governor Alex Tolgos has warned that his government will not hesitate to arrest and sell off stray livestock at the reserve to the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) as way of generating revenue for the county.

The county government is planning to set up tourism resorts inside the reserve as a way of revamping the tourism sector.