Senators rally against Balala over rhino deaths fiasco
Senate Deputy Speaker Kithure Kindiki. He wants an investigation done to establish why 11 black rhinos died at Tsavo East after being translocated. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Senator Moses Wetang'ula asked the committee to establish why the rhinos were moved.
- Wetang'ula accused Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala of negligence and asked him to resign.
Senate Deputy Speaker Kithure Kindiki has ordered the Lands, Environment and Natural Resources Committee to conduct investigations into the death of 11 black rhinos after they were translocated from Nairobi and Nakuru National Parks to Tsavo East.
Nominated Senator Mary Seneta demanded a statement from the government about the fiasco.
Ms Seneta wants the committee to establish the cause of the deaths, the delay in compensation of human/wildlife conflict victims and what appropriate measures have been put in place to prevent a recurrence.
"In deciding to translocate the animals, the government, through KWS, neither planned the process nor did it think it through," she told the House.
NEGLIGENCE
Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang'ula asked the committee to establish why the animals were moved and if the communities near the parks were involved in the decision-making.
"These animals are a tourist attraction and a source of revenue for the communities from where they were translocated," he told the House.
Mr Wetang'ula further accused Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala of negligence and asked him to resign.
Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja also said Mr Balala must take responsibility for the rhino deaths.
