President William Ruto has promised that the government will, moving forward, compensate people injured or killed during human-animal conflicts.
Speaking in Laikipia during the launch of the human-wildlife conflict mitigation and compensation scheme on Friday, April 12, Ruto revealed the government will disburse money to compensate 7,000 verified cases of human-life conflict.
The head of state also noted that the government will initiate a nationwide fencing program, compensation and a new plan to help the compensation process become shorter.
“We have close to 17,000 already assessed cases of human-wildlife conflicts with the cost of Ksh7 billion," Ruto noted.
To date, the government has compensated Ksh4 billion to people affected by the wildlife conflicts in Kenya. It is yet to cover the remaining 7,000 cases.
According to instructions directed to Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife, Dr Alfred Mutua, the compensation process should be completed in the next 60 days.
“You go to the chief, warden and others. Moving forward, the compensation will be easier. We don’t want someone injured by animals taking years to get compensated,” Ruto noted.
“We will have youths working with communities to ensure the compensation process is short.”
The President further noted that the government will employ 1,500 new game rangers, prioritising those from the NYS.
“The most affected counties like Laikipia will have more rangers than others to ensure the problem is solved,” he added.
Ruto further instructed CS Mutua to map the area covered by forests to ensure the government fences all of them in five years.
"Tell us how much is needed and how much distance will be covered," he stated during the launch of a 56-kilometre electric fence in Laikipia County.
