Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano has said that the government is committed towards fencing most game parks and reserves to avert cases of human wildlife conflict that may occur especially during the current dry season.
Miano who reacted after three people are said to have lost their lives after they were attacked by elephants in Narok, Kitui and Laikipia counties said her ministry was working tirelessly hard to address the issue by putting the necessary measures in place.
“We have received three tragic reports of people being killed by elephants. Kenya Wildlife Service KWS is on high alert to ensure that these cases don’t occur again. We are putting all effort to ensure co- existence between human and wildlife,” said Miano.
For the Kitui case, Miano says that already a team of rangers from KWS has been dispatched to monitor the movements of the elephants while in Laikipia Miano says that community will be engaged to unlock the stalemate that has hindered the construction of the perimeter fence.
Last year, Miano spearheaded an ambitious exercise that will address cases of the human wildlife conflict.
During the pass out of KWS rangers at Manyani college, President William Ruto allocated about 51 million as compensation.
The President has made it clear to us as a Ministry that communities and the people of Kenya are at the centre of the government’s mandate. We are here to compensate the victims,” Miano said.
We are also coming up with many proposals on how to raise funds so that the compensation becomes consistent and sustainable,” she added.
In an effort to make compensation more responsive to the extent of damages caused, the Ministry has also announced an increase in the compensation rates, particularly for elephant-related incidents.
The compensation for elephant attacks has risen from Ksh30,000 to a substantial Ksh5 million per case.
The compensation scheme, which was initially launched in April 2024 with a budget of Ksh960 million, aims to provide financial relief to victims of human-wildlife conflict, including those who have lost loved ones, suffered injuries, or had their property or crops destroyed.
