Residents hope wildlife conflict and payouts will soon be settled

Handerson Keke shows the damage extent caused by elephants at Bamako dispensary. [David Gichuru, Standard]

As Kenyans prepare to welcome the new year, dozens of wildlife attack victims in Taita Taveta County have yet to be compensated.

Despite the government's announcement in September 2022 that the National Treasury had released Sh200 million for compensation, this remains the case.

Relatives of 16 victims killed by wild animals, those injured, and farmers whose crops were destroyed by marauding wild animals between 2014 and 2021 are among those who have yet to benefit from the funds.

County Commissioner Loyford Kibaara said in September that relatives of people killed by wildlife would be paid Sh5 million each; those injured would be paid between Sh50,000 and Sh1 million, depending on the severity of the injury and the recommendations of a medical doctor.

Compensation

Farmers whose crops were destroyed were to receive compensation ranging from Sh4,000 to Sh2 million, according to a report by agricultural experts who assessed the damage and in accordance with the Wildlife Management and Compensation Act 2013.

Kibaara reported that 16 people were killed, 67 were injured, and 228 farms were destroyed in the region.

He added that 50 people whose homes were destroyed by elephants would each receive Sh530,000.

Elephants, lions, buffalos, leopards, cheaters, hyenas, snakes, and hippos, according to Kibaara, are among the wild animals responsible for the attack.

However, The Standard has learned that the victims have yet to be compensated, and there is nothing to celebrate during the Christmas and New Year holidays.

"We filled out the compensation claim forms three months ago but we are yet to receive any payment.

"We also opened bank accounts, but the government has yet to wire the funds," Mwanga Kizele, a Kasigau resident who lost livestock, said.

"We spent resources to come to the KWS headquarters in Voi town to fill the claims in the hopes of receiving the money on time, but in vain," said John Mwaiwo, a Mbololo resident who lost a relative.

The beneficiaries have yet to be paid, according to a senior KWS official at the Tsavo National Park headquarters. According to the official, some victims have yet to complete claim forms in order to receive payment.

"Relatives of some wildlife attack victims have yet to complete compensation forms. Some haven't even opened bank accounts, making it difficult for the government to facilitate payment," the official said.

Those protesting, however, accused the government of using delaying tactics.

Empty promises

"We had filled in compensation forms a long time ago, and it appears that the government has no money to compensate us despite its earlier promise that money is already available for us," said another Mwatate sub-county resident.

Kibaara said between 2021 and 2022, some 12 people were killed, 838 farms were destroyed, and nine people were injured by wild animals from the vast Tsavo National Park, which covers approximately 62 per cent of the total land area.

The administrator said the county wildlife compensation committee had already forwarded compensation claims totaling more than Sh139 million to the national government.

Taita Taveta county is one of the counties that experienced an extremely prolonged drought, which had devastating effects on the local economy, which is entirely dependent on rain-fed agriculture.

Education, health, water, tourism, and agriculture are among the sectors of the economy that have suffered the most.

Increased conflicts

Although no human deaths have been reported as a result of the drought, local farmers have lost an unknown number of livestock due to a lack of pasture. During the review year, an increase in human-wildlife conflict disrupted learning.

The Kenya Wildlife Service confirmed that more than 140 wild animals died of starvation in the vast Tsavo National Park, putting tourism and wildlife conservation efforts at risk.

According to KWS, the vast Tsavo Ecosystem alone lost 110 jumbos, 32 buffalos, giraffes, zebras, and small game. In Tsavo, 78 elephants died as a result of poaching and climate change in 2021.

"A large number of wild animals have died in the recent past. As a government, we are doing everything we can to avoid future drought-related deaths, which have negatively impacted tourism and wildlife conservation efforts, as well as revenue collection," Tourism CS Penina Malonza said in Tsavo in November.

She was speaking at the launch of a Sh200 million water tracking for wildlife and tree planting exercise.

Malonza said the government, through KWS, has built at least 12 water pans in wildlife hotspot areas throughout the county.

The CS said the government will build an additional 12 water pans in the park. To mitigate the effects of drought, the government is also planting more than 200,000 trees in Tsavo, as well as rehabilitating and expanding Aruda Dam, a key wildlife water source that dried up.

Human-wildlife conflict was the order of the day, according to local residents and leaders, as marauding wild animals, particularly elephants and lions, broke out of Tsavo and raided people's settlement areas in search of water and food.

Residents killed

In the process, stray animals killed people and livestock, destroyed houses and water tanks, and restricted people's movement.

In one of the wildlife attacks, a pride of lions raided villages on the outskirts of Voi town and slaughtered 133 goats and sheep, costing more than Sh1 million.

Governor Andrew Mwadime said human-wildlife conflict is still a major issue in the county. He said the local community had suffered as a result of a lack of compensation for deaths, injuries, and crop destruction caused by marauding wild animals that frequented settlement areas.