Compensate victims of wild animal attacks, Raila tells govt

ODM leader Raila Odinga addresses his supporters at the Voi bus terminus on September 21, 2016. He urged the government to compensate victims of human-wildlife conflict in Taita Taveta County. PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Mr Odinga said that the revenue collected from Tsavo National Park should be retained by the county.
  • He urged voters to elect him as president in 2017, promising to erect an electric fence round the entire park.
  • He said that his administration will ensure no livestock graze in the parks.
  • Governor Mruttu wondered why other counties are allowed to manage their local reserves and not Taita Taveta.

ODM leader Raila Odinga wants the government to compensate families of those injured or killed by wild animals in Taita Taveta County.

Addressing a rally at the Voi bus stage on Wednesday evening, Mr Odinga said the government should also end the human-wildlife conflict in the area that has existed for many decades.

He said many residents had died and others had been maimed, while thousands of acres of crops had been destroyed by wildlife, yet the government, through the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), was yet to compensate them.

“KWS values wildlife more than human beings. When a lion or elephant is killed, they rush to the scene with choppers but take no action when a person is killed”, he said.

He urged voters to elect him as president in 2017, promising to end the problem by erecting an electric fence round the entire Tsavo National Park, which neighbours the county, to contain the animals inside.

RETAIN PARK REVENUE

He said that the revenue collected from the park should be retained by the county.

“Narok County collects Sh3.5 billion monthly through the Mara National Reserve but the revenue collected from Tsavo goes to Nairobi. That is segregation.

“We will make sure it is all retained by Taita Taveta government when we take leadership”, he said.

He said that his administration will ensure no livestock graze in the parks.

Currently, thousands of livestock from Tanzania and northern region of the country graze in the Tsavo National Park.

HUGE CROWDS

Mr Odinga, who attracted a large crowd in Voi during his three-day tour of the county, said the Jubilee government had “lied” to Kenyans on jobs, projects and other promises.

“They promised laptops in 100 days, 10,000km of tarmac road, irrigation and job creation for the youth among other promises but they have not fulfilled any of them.

“Even the standard gauge railway project they pride themselves so much for, is not theirs, this is an initiative of the coalition government of Mwai Kibaki and I,” he said.

Taita Taveta Governor John Mruttu said a large part of the county is occupied by Tsavo National Park yet the residents did not benefit from its revenue.

He wondered why other counties are allowed to manage their local reserves and not Taita Taveta.