John Mbaria
9 January 2005
interview
Nairobi — The new head of the Kenya Wildlife Service, Mr Julius Kipng'etich, had a frank interview with Sunday Nation's JOHN MBARIA on his duties as the new director. Excerpts:
Is your appointment as the head of KWS the first time you are coming into contact with the world of conservation?
The heritage we have of wildlife and biodiversity brings us into contact with conservation on a daily basis. You ought to remember that what KWS does critically supports the economy not just in terms of tourism alone, but also in terms of driving livelihoods in the country. If, for example, the forests or parks are decimated, Kenya's climate would be entirely different. This daily interaction between livelihoods and nature makes us aware of the need, the role and the importance of conservation.
What are you bringing to KWS?
Basically, I am bringing leadership to the parastatal. From my assessment, what KWS has lacked is somebody with the capacity to create willing followers. I am going to use my own managerial knowledge as a lecturer with the University of Nairobi to drive this organisation in the same way I had driven the other two organisations. The other thing I would like to introduce are systems. KWS is an organisation that badly needs systems. When you do not have systems, many things become discretionary and the success of such an organisation depends on how well-meaning the leader is.
And what are your priorities?
In the first six months, my priorities are two pronged. One will be to stabilise the organisation in terms of finances and focus more on our core business which is wildlife management, biodiversity conservation, research and security for animals. I will also focus on the human-wildlife conflict which will involve engaging communities in the management of wildlife. KWS has no capacity, now and in the future, to manage the entire wildlife in the country. It is not even desirable that it builds such a capacity because 70 per cent of the wildlife lives outside the national parks. The only way we can limit the human-wildlife conflict is by engaging communities to be part of the process and to own wildlife management. So, the government will do its bit inside the parks, but for the animals outside the parks, we will create systems so that communities not only do what KWS does but also benefit from these resources the same way other people benefit from coffee, tea and livestock.
When people talk about communities, they normally lump together interests of ordinary poor people living outside national parks together with those of big-time game ranchers who also live outside Kenya's parks but benefit immensely from wildlife. During your tenure as the head of KWS, how are you going to ensure that the interests of the poor who suffer as a result of wildlife conservation are also catered for?
One of the things that we will develop is a wildlife policy which will bring together all stakeholders to participate in its formulation. The current policy is outdated as it was developed in 1973. But since then, so many things have happened that are not captured in this policy. To me, what we also need is to create windows of opportunity for private ranchers, ordinary mwananchi , KWS and local authorities. We need not see all this from a position of a winner and a loser. Our challenge is to engender a management system in which everybody will feel they are winners.
Once we have a policy, we are going to then develop appropriate legislation so that issues like what the Laikipia West MP, GG Kariuki, had come up with in the Wildlife Bill would never arise. By the way I do sympathise with Mr Kariuki and those who supported him because they were filling a vacuum since the government had not come up with a wildlife policy while the current legislation is out of date.
But what is now needed is for us to decide - as a country - on how we are going to manage our wildlife. In my view, we should also remember that wildlife is not merely a Kenyan heritage but also a global one. While it is our primary responsibility to manage the wildlife, we need to involve the rest of the world as most Kenyans are too poor and do not have the necessary resources to venture into wildlife conservation. But I wish to insist here that Kenyans must be the ones driving the process.
When will Kenyans get this policy?
By the time Parliament reconvenes, we will be able to have the draft policy so that when the Tourism and Wildlife Minister goes to Parliament to explain why the president did not sign the Wildlife Bill, he will be asking Parliament to start debate on the policy which he will take to the House as a sessional paper. I am hoping the resultant debate will be over by the end of this year.
You must have noticed that wildlife conservation in this country has of late become very much politicised. Do you think you have the necessary political will to bring the desired changes at KWS?
My assumption is that I do have the necessary political will. I do not see why I was brought here if there was no political will and support. And to me, the reason why all this hullabaloo exists is because our laws are outdated and there is no discernible wildlife policy. Once we put these in place ... where issues are well clarified and that we are all reading from the same script, rumour mongering and political bickering will die.
How do you hope to ward off the very powerful vested interests working within and outside KWS?
I believe that all of our interests can fit within wildlife conservation if we adopt the spirit of give-and-take. No one group should expect to have its way all the time. All stakeholders will be accommodated during the wildlife policy formulation process.
Each time KWS gets a new director, interest groups make frantic efforts to contact him and drive their own agenda. What guarantee can you give Kenyans that KWS is going to pursue what you have in mind and what the country needs?
The way I want to go around this is by rallying the staff around KWS's mandate. If we do so, then we will have shielded ourselves from all these groups that want to drive us into different directions. I am going to use my management skills to rally people around our agenda. And once we have the new KWS Act, we will be able to tell off groups that introduce agenda that is outside the Act.
What role do you think commercialisation of KWS's resources ought to play in attaining your dream for a functioning body?
I would not like to use the word commercialisation because it creates the feeling among Kenyans that their resources are up for sale. The more appropriate term is private-public participation. Certain aspects of KWS will have to involve private participation. And this is already happening because though hotels and lodges are in the country's parks, they do not belong to KWS. We will like to bring in private sector participation in areas where money can be made legitimately without affecting KWS's core business of conservation. Then we will also encourage donor participation because Kenya government does not have all the resources to support conservation.
At a recent public baraza in Taita Taveta, President Mwai Kibaki asked KWS to give out 10 per cent of its revenue from the Tsavo National Park to local people. In its present financial status, is it possible for KWS to do this?
I think the President was making a suggestion which will be built in the wildlife policy. We will sit down with the central government and agree on an appropriate cost-sharing scheme which could be more or less than 10 per cent.
One of the things we are going to strengthen is KWS's corporate social responsibility programme which I admit has been very poor. For example, some of the conflicts between people and animals have been as a result of water. Pastoralists have been taking their livestock to the parks because KWS has not constructed dams where they live. If we build dams outside the parks, such conflicts would lessen.
For so long wildlife conservation in Kenya has been seen in terms of conserving big animals. But KWS controls a larger biodiversity than mere animals. In your term as the Director, are we going to see KWS developing on, and generating income from this bigger diversity?
In our management meetings, we have been looking at biodiversity as a resource. We are going to strengthen issues of intellectual property because this is another area from which we, as a country, can make a lot of money. We are also going to build bridges across government departments and especially with NEMA and the Chief Conservator of Forests. If we do this, then the biggest money earner for KWS in the next three years will not be park gate charges but from biodiversity products.
There have been people who have been exploiting KWS's resources illegally and reaping immensely in the process. Are we likely to see a halt to this during your term?
Even as we formulate the wildlife policy, there are certain immediate measures that I am going to put in place. For instance, in the next three months, we will set guidelines on bioprospecting which will direct any researcher who comes into the country. I am also going to contact the Kenya Intellectual Property Institute so that we can work out measures that need to be incorporated in the immediate period. We are also going to strengthen KWS's research department so that it fully gets a grip on these and related issues.
Your agenda for KWS will definitely require a lot of money. Do you have these finances?
It is true that currently we do not have sufficient resources to drive this agenda. But KWS has not adequately marketed its programmes to the government and to the world (of donors). This has been an internal weakness. During budget hearings in February, we are hoping to impress to our parent ministry and the Treasury the importance of adequately financing KWS. Secondly, we are also going to aggressively pursue donor money. Internally, we are also going to restructure our budgeting processes to be able to re-direct much of our funds into meeting our core business.
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