After 52 years of being under the management of the national government, Amboseli National Park will now be the responsibility of the Kajiado County Government.
The new development was revealed in a gazette notice through a Deed of Transfer, detailing the scope of transfer of management functions, funding, labour workforce, duration of the agreement, and the execution of the transferred functions.
Under the agreement, Kajiado County will assume operational control, such as day-to-day management, conservation operations, tourism, and wildlife protection, while the national government retains oversight and ownership via the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).
The agreement disclosed that the national government would retain responsibility for setting the legal framework, ensuring conservation standards, research and monitoring, inter-county coordination, and ensuring national/international commitments are upheld.
What the Transfer Means
In getting management of the park, the county now gets a significant new asset and source of revenue. This gives the county more fiscal space and a stake in the park’s success.
It also means more responsibility - the county must manage wildlife protection, tourism infrastructure, security, and maintain ecological integrity. Failure to do so could have reputational, ecological, and economic costs.
The national government, via KWS, will relinquish direct operational control, while retaining ownership and oversight. This signals a shift in conservation governance, with more devolved management of major parks.
In the long term, the national government will receive less revenue, but will also have a smaller direct operational burden.
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In terms of revenue, the agreement listed a revenue-sharing formula over the next three financial years. In the 2026/2027 FY, Kajiado and the national government will receive 50 per cent each of the revenue.
In the 2027/2028 FY, Kajiado County will receive 70 per cent of the revenue, with the national government getting 30 per cent. Kajiado would then get 100 per cent of the revenue generated from the park in the 2028/2029 FY.
Still, the arrangement dictates that five per cent of the total revenues collected from Amboseli shall be reserved in perpetuity for the national government to support continuous development activities at the park.
As per the gazette notice, the agreement shall remain in force for an initial renewable period of 15 years. The agreement shall be renewable upon consultations between the national government and the county government of Kajiado.
The Deed of Transfer shall become effective 21 days from the date of execution, which, as per the notice, was October 14.
By publishing it via gazette notice, the transfer of Amboseli to Kajiado County has been officially documented, after months of intense lobbying by key stakeholders.
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Back in November 2024, Cabinet approved the transfer of management functions to Kajiado, after President William Ruto had ordered the then Tourism Cabinet Secretary Peninah Malonza to hand over control of the park to the county in 2023.
Kajiado will now join Narok as the other county managing such an important historical site within the Maa ecosystem, that is home to Kenya's rich wildlife.
Amboseli had been under national government management since October 1973, when it was officially declared a national park under national trustees.
