Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 759742,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/759742/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 22,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Eng.) Maina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 75,
        "legal_name": "Ephraim Mwangi Maina",
        "slug": "ephraim-maina"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I stand to support this Petition and the Bill because I happen to have some experience about human-wildlife conflict. I hope this Bill will bring some framework for the people who live close to our wildlife. Sometime back, I built a water project for the Maasai Community in Amboseli and the whole idea was to take water from the national park to the ranches on the boundary of the park. During the opening ceremony, the late hon. Oloitiptip, who came to open the water project, was put to task by the Maasai people. They said that during the rainy seasons, the wild animals move from the park which is swampy at that time to their ranches. They also said that during the dry seasons, their cattle went to the park to graze. But now, we were giving them water so as to stop them from grazing in the park. I witnessed a conflict there. I must say that in the conservation that we are geared to in Kenya, we must ensure that there is some friendly co-existence between the animals and the local people who live near the parks. At this juncture, I must mention that even if we set up these committees, Kenya needs to have a broad look at this matter. The people who live near the wildlife need to benefit in a better way rather than just wait for their animals to be killed by a lion and then compensate them. The compensation to be given should also be reasonable. Mr. Speaker, Sir, Kenya, in its conservation efforts, has even banned culling of animals. In this House, I will be pushing that culling of these animals is allowed because the wild animals also move from their places of existence when they are starved due to over population. When animals are kept in a park like Lake Nakuru National Park which has a limited area, over the years, the animals continue breeding and end up over populated. For instance, there could be about 200 lions without as many zebras to keep the balance. This results in the wildlife animals straying out into farms and ranches. Therefore, I hope that the recommendations to this Bill will come from the local level, which will result in better management of the wildlife and the people living around the wildlife conservation areas. I hope the same Bill is going to make recommendation for benefits and compensation of the communities living around the wildlife. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I support this Bill and I look forward to supporting it further."
}