County wants a share of revenue collected from game parks
Taita Taveta County has accused the Ministry of Tourism and the Kenya Wildlife Services(KWS) of obstructing the resolution of a conflict between the county and the ministry on revenue sharing.
The county has accused KWS for failing to remit a share of revenue collected in Tsavo East and Tsavo West National park with the County saying 62 per cent of the its land is within the two parks.
This after the Ministry of Tourism representatives failed to show up for a select committee that was tasked to discuss the issues raised and come up with recommendations on resolving the conflict under the intervention of the Intergovernmental Technical Committee (IGRTC) through intergovernmental Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism.
IGRTC Acting Chairman John Burugu has now expressed his disappointment in the way the Ministry of Tourism is treating the matter
Burugu says it’s unfortunate that the representatives from the Ministry failed to turn up without even a formal communication adding that it’s important for Government agencies to act in accordance with the law.
IGRTC chairperson in charge of Alternative dispute resolution Alfred Khang’ati said they will not relent in resolving the dispute saying failure by the Ministry to send a delegation will stall the process.
“We will be making another attempt to bring the two parties together to resolve the dispute,” said Khang’atia.
Taita Taveta County secretary Liverson Mghendi who led officials from the county urged the ministry to stop stalling the process saying as a county they have a right to get their fair share of revenue.
On February 8, 2021, a team of IGRTC toured the county on a fact-finding mission where both parties agreed to avail representatives to form a select committee that will lead discussions in resolving the matter.
