High hopes as Kajiado gears up to take over Amboseli

in August, President William Ruto attended the Maa cultural festival in Narok County. During the visit, he backed the 2005 Executive Order by former President Mwai Kibaki, which called for the management of Amboseli to be handed over to Kajiado County government. If this directive is implemented, the county government will manage the park and share the revenue with Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) on a 50:50 basis.

The Maa community celebrated the announcement and held a feast and international prayers at the park, which were attended by governors Joseph ole Lenku (Kajiado), Patrick ole Ntutu (Narok), Jonathan Lelelit (Samburu), and Anglican Church of Kenya Archbishop Jackson ole Sapit. Residents have been eagerly awaiting the implementation of this directive since then.

The Maa community has been co-existing with wildlife roaming their land, leading to increased human-wildlife conflict.   Mr John Teum, a resident of Kimana, lives in an area that is part of the wildlife migratory route within the Amboseli ecosystem. He expressed optimism that the community will directly benefit from the county's park management. Mr Teum, 52, revealed that there are seven group ranches within the ecosystem, which the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) sends Sh21 million annually that is spent on bursaries. With the county managing the park, they hope this amount will increase, benefiting the community even more.

"Despite high collections by KWS, we only receive a little amount annually. Some ranches, including Olgulului-Olalashi, get the lion’s share. Needy learners end up getting as little as Sh3,000 annually. We expect the bursary kitty to grow by triple digits under county management," said Mr Teum.

The locals are now urging the county to begin sensitisation programmes on the importance of wildlife conservation and how livestock will access the park going forward.

 "After the President gave the directive, herders sneaked into the park in droves with their animals. Under KWS watch, this was not possible. It might be a tall order for the county to convince the herders to keep their animals away from the park," said the resident.

 Mr Benson Leyian, the CEO of Big Life Foundation , which operates within the Amboseli ecosystem, said the move to hand over the park management to the county will reduce human-wildlife conflict.

 "The move to hand over the park to the county government will restore a sense of ownership to the local community. They will feel they own the park and benefit from the wildlife, protecting them instead of killing them," said Mr Leyian.

Cases of human-wildlife conflict characterised by retaliation attacks have increased in the recent past, but only a handful of these conflicts were reported.

May 13 was a gloomy day for conservationists. Six lions were speared to death by herders at Big Life Foundation headquarters in Imbirikani Ranch within the Amboseli ecosystem. The previous night, a pride of nine lions had wandered to a homestead near Imbirikani town. It preyed on 12 goats and a dog before retreating to Big Life Foundation’s fenced headquarters nearby. However, on Saturday morning, a group of 80 youthful Morans armed with spears stormed into the compound, spearing the six helpless lions to death.

The incident came hot on the heels of the killing of four other lions, including the oldest lion in Kenya named Lonkiito. He was 19 years old when he was killed - speared to death by herders in Olkelunyiet Village. The aged, frail lion had waded out of the park to the village in search of food at the height of the drought.

On December 19, 2022, two men were trampled by stray jumbos within Kimana region. In retaliation, irate locals killed an elephant. KWS reported that a crowd of 200 people attacked the elephants.

 "Amboseli is the heartbeat of conservancy within the Amboseli wildlife circuit. We hope that the county government will establish a humane mechanism to solve the human-wildlife conflicts and set aside some funds to compensate locals for migration corridors in their private lands, “Mr Leiyan said.

 According to the Ministry of Tourism data, the government owes wildlife attack victims a total of Sh5.6 billion in compensation accumulated since 2013. However, only Sh940 million is currently available for compensation. The county government of Kajiado is eyeing Sh240 million in new revenues after the historical Amboseli takeover. Amboseli National Park collected an average of 3.3 million dollars annually from park collections and related tourism activities in the past three years.

Governor Lenku said the county government is prepared for the task ahead.

"Any move from any quarter to sabotage this great milestone will be met by the full force of the Maasai community. We shall not allow the continued discrimination of the community because they are the best in wildlife conservation," said the governor.  He emphasised that Kenya is a key partner in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which during a recent summit in Montreal, Canada, increased global conservation targets from 30/17 ( 30 per cent terrestrial and 17 per cent marine) to 30/30 ( 30 per cent terrestrial and 30 per cent marine).

 The governor has a working group that is roping in the group ranches in the Amboseli ecosystem ( Kimana, Eselenkei, Imbirikani, Olgulului Olarashi, Rombo, Kuku A and Kuku B) to increase the conservation area as per the President's request.

The expansion comes at a time when the implementation of the County Spatial Plan, which has designated specific areas as wildlife corridors, has begun.

"Our land use must align with our economic activities because we are keen to protect our natural heritage without hurting some sectors. The Spatial Plan has clear guidelines on this. It is geared towards prudent use of the land resource for better benefits to the community," said Mr Lenku.

[email protected]