Rights’ group call for audit on list of beneficiaries of human-wildlife compensation monies

Voi,

Monday, October 16, 2023

KNA by Wagema Mwangi

Rights’ groups have called for an extensive forensic audit on the beneficiaries of the human-wildlife conflict in Taita-Taveta County.

This comes after claims emerged that the government is poised to lose million to cartels of unscrupulous individuals who fixed their names on the list of farmers who suffered losses and damages from wildlife invasion.

Haki Africa CEO Khalid Hussein said the list of beneficiaries in the region was populated by names of well-connected individuals who fraudulently manipulated the process to have their names included amongst hundreds of artisanal farmers who suffered genuine losses.

Speaking in Voi over the weekend, Mr. Khalid stated that the fraudsters masquerading as artisanal farmers will take the lion’s share of the compensation money while the genuine farmers will take home peanuts.

“There is a need to undertake a thorough forensic audit on this compensation list. Individuals without any known land or farming activities will receive millions while genuine farmers who have suffered losses will receive peanuts. This is gross injustice,” he said.

The call for a probe comes at a time when the government has released Sh 907.8 million for compensating victims of human-wildlife conflict across the country. According to the list from the state department, 5,080 beneficiaries from 46 counties have started receiving their monies.  

In July this year, the government announced the release of the millions that would go towards compensating for deaths, injuries, crop destruction, property losses and livestock predation that resulted from human wildlife conflict.

This is the first-time compensation is done since the last one in 2019.

In the breakdown by the state department on wildlife, Sh 382.9 million would compensate for deaths while Sh279.2 million for injuries. Crop destruction would take Sh 156.6 million while Sh84.8 million would go for livestock predation. Property damages would get Sh4.2 million.

Amongst the counties that received the lion’s share of the compensation monies include Tana River which will get Sh 77 million, Kajiado at Sh 68.9 million, Kitui at Sh 52.8 million , Meru at Sh 50.6 million and Taita-Taveta County Sh51.5 million.

Kisii and TransNzoia counties will receive the least amount from the monies at Sh 115,000 and Sh 61,750 respectively.

However, the glaring discrepancies in amounts the beneficiaries are set to receive has raised alarm amongst the human right groups who are reading mischief in the list. 

Amongst the hundreds of beneficiaries, artisanal farmers who bear the brunt of human-wildlife conflict are receiving peanuts after years of waiting.

In the same list, some beneficiaries including prominent businessmen and former senior government officials have multiple claims that are running into millions of shillings.

Mr. John Baya, a farmer at Sagalla in Voi, is a symbol of these vast discrepancies. After his crops were destroyed by elephants in 2016, he filed a claim for compensation that amounted to a paltry Sh 1,946.

 He says the cost of filing and following up on his claim was higher than the amount of money he was expecting.

“Travelling to follow up on the status of my claim was too expensive. I was spending more money than I was expecting,” he said.

His case mirrors that of Ms. Zeina Mnyapara, another farmer at Sagalla, whose crops suffered a similar fate. Her claim for crop destruction by elephants came to Sh 1,061. Seven years later, she would receive Sh 800 shillings as her compensation after the bank charges and other deductions.

“It was too little. I spent more on transport and coming to collect the money,” she says.

On the same list, there are dozens of beneficiaries poised to receive hefty compensation ranging from one million shillings to over three million.

In Taita-Taveta, victims of crop destruction will receive Sh 18.8 million while deaths will get Sh 23 million. Injuries, livestock predation and property damage will receive Sh 6.1 million, 3.3 million and two hundred and thirty eight thousand shillings respectively.

Mr. Khalid argues that compensation fund by the government was intended to largely benefit artisanal farmers who have borne the wrath of wildlife in the counties with human-wildlife cases.

He however notes that underserving individuals might have fraudulently wriggled their way into the list and this has disadvantaged the genuinely needy cases.

“Only an audit on these names will reveal who are the true beneficiaries. There is a need to weed out masqueraders whose only interest is to benefit from this money,” he said.

He further called upon the government to fast-track the process of reverting Tsavo National Park back to the county as part of addressing historical land injustices in the region.

Courtes; KNA