Leaders from Taita Taveta County are now advocating for the enactment of legislation to fulfil President William Ruto’s commitment that a minimum of 50% of the revenue generated from Tsavo National Park directly benefits residents.
Led by Voi MP Khamis Abdi Chome and his Mwatate counterpart Peter Mbogho Shake, the leaders want the National Assembly to consider passing a law designating a specific section of Tsavo National Park as a game reserve.
They have also backed a proposal to establish a well-defined revenue-sharing formula among the neighbouring counties that border the Tsavo East and Tsavo West national parks.
“We want the President to fulfil his promise to the people of Taita Taveta County to have a quota of revenues raised by the Tsavo National Park allocated to our devolved unit. We also want the national government to compensate the residents of Taita Taveta County for their role in generating carbon credits,” Chome told the National Assembly Committee on Tourism and Wildlife.
The committee chaired by Maara MP Kareke Mbiuki is investigating the human-wildlife conflict to develop a comprehensive resolution that embraces public interest, the conservation of wildlife, and sustainable development.
“While others contribute to environmental pollution, Tsavo National Park, covering 62% of the county’s land mass, diligently preserves trees and vegetation, effectively sequestering carbon into the ground. We deserve compensation for our contribution, as we are essentially doing this to benefit the entire nation and humanity,” Chome added.
Voi MP Khamis Abdi Chome.
Chome, a committee member, reckoned that when carbon credit funds are channelled to entities like Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) or any other organisation, we must duly compensate those of us (residents) who are the host communities.
On his part, Shake asked the committee to make a follow-up with the President to ensure that revenues Taita Taveta County gets at least 50% of revenue collected from the Tsavo National Park.
Kenya is estimated to collect more than Sh60 billion from Tsavo East and West national parks annually.
The two parks are Kenya’s largest and oldest protected area, occupying at least 60 percent of the county.
Maara MP Kareke Mbiuki, who chairs the committee, asked the legislators to adjust their expectations as revenue collected by the Kenya Wildlife Service from Tsavo National Parks and others is not even enough to sustain their budget allocation as they have to come to parliament to ask for more resources for their funding.
“Which revenue are we sharing raised from the Tsavo National Park? KWS comes in and starts relying on the same exchequer for funds,” Mbiuki said, even as he asked his colleagues to be realistic with their demands.
“It is extremely good to be realistic, colleagues, if the National Treasury can sustain the operation of KWS, per se, then whatever is left or earned in terms of revenue data can be shared. But right now, the same kind of KWS relies on the exchequer to fund their activities,” he added.
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