Parastatals’ planned merger stalls

By KIPCHUMBA KEMEI

Kenya: The planned Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and the Nyayo Tea Zones merger has hit a snag over the structure of the body that will administer them.

KFS wants Nyayo Tea Zones to cede the management of its forests in tea plantations and concentrate on the expansion of tea plantations but the latter is resisting the idea. This caused confusion during a meeting that had been called by the negotiation team mandated to work on the finer details of the merger last Friday.

The meeting, which was held at the Kenya School of Government, ended prematurely after all the three bodies dug in demanding they remain independent entities, devoid of any interference.

All the three entities are Government owned bodies that earn the exchequer billions of shillings annually in revenue.

The proposed Nyayo Tea Zones mandate of overseeing the expansion of the tea sector would likely be resisted by other players such as the Kenya Tea Board (KTB) and the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), a private entity and the regulator.

“Nyayo Tea Zones has been a very successful entity in protecting forests in tea plantations. Ceding the mandate to KFS, which is grappling with increased cases of logging, charcoal burning among other forms of encroachment within the gazetted forest is not the right thing to do at the moment,” said a senior corporation official, who sought anonymity because he is not authorised to comment on “sensitive matters”.

Those in the know say the merger will be a complicated process because of vested and political interests. Sources told The Standard that the process will be complicated further when the merger reaches the Attorney General’s office for drafting and finally to Parliament for approval.

KFS and KWS said they should operate independently to avoid conflicts because their statutory roles are different.

Powerful conservationists

KWS, which is grappling with the runaway poaching inside and outside national parks and game reserves, is opposed to the merger with animal groups and a group of powerful conservationists indicating should the merger succeed, they would stop funding some of KWS’ activities.

Environment Cabinet Secretary Judi Wakhungu recently said the planned merger is facing stiff opposition from different quarters that have interests in the two bodies.

“There is strong opposition. I personally support it but let us give the process time,” she said after presiding over a ceremony at KFS Training College in Londiani, Kericho County.