By Emmanuel Koro
Johannesburg, 30 August 2022
Conservationists worldwide are watching with great interest if the new Kenyan President will listen to the call from the country’s wildlife producer communities and urban dwellers to re-introduce international hunting.
The pro-international hunting Kenyans say that the return of international hunting would enable the East African country to raise much-needed revenue for wildlife conservation, habitat conservation and socio-economic development.
Kenya banned international hunting in 1977 under President Jomo Kenyatta, setting itself up for wildlife conservation failure that it has never recovered from. Since then wildlife producer communities and other Kenyans have protested the ban by engaging in massive poaching that continues to negatively impact on wildlife conservation in the East African country.
Meanwhile, Raila Ondinga’s court challenge to Kenya Presidential elections results that he claims are the outcome of a rigged and corrupt voting process is a great opportunity for whoever shall lead the nation to start thinking seriously about the need to return international hunting to Kenya.
President-elect Ruto is most likely to be the man to lead Kenya based on his slender but controversial victory. So, is he the breath of fresh air that will accept the Kenyans’ demand for the return of international hunting?
In a recent interview Nairobi-based economist, Mr Joseph Chege said that he was particularly concerned about Kenya because he was seeing “quite a bit of failure on the part of the Kenyan Government” in this aspect of the missed opportunity to receive benefits from international hunting that in sharp contrast, is immensely benefiting countries in the south of the African continent. Namely, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe who wildlife population, including elephants continues to increase through the support of wildlife producer communities who are benefiting from international hunting.
“We are about to get a new Government here in Kenya. We’re going into elections in August 2022,” said Mr Chege. “Therefore, I would like to call on the new leaders to approach international hunting better than we have done in the past.”
A Nairobi-based taxi driver said the appeal to the future President of Kenya to lift the ban on international hunting “is a good idea.”
The Western animal rights groups captured Kenya Wildlife Service has continued to resist the implementation of ideas on wildlife trade, including international hunting? No wonder why the officials from Kenya Wildlife Service recently embarrassed the outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta by defying his directive to have Kenya vote in support of Botswana’s international ivory trade bid at UN international wild trade regulating agency CITES meeting in Geneva 2019. This was a classic display that Kenya’s capture by the Western animal rights groups is so strong that even a presidential order to support wildlife use can’t be listened to.
Therefore, the new Kenyan President better be ready for stiff opposition in his attempt to listen to the people and reintroduce international hunting. It’s up to him to fire those defy his orders in order to do re-introduce international hunting to benefit wildlife conservation and socio-economic development.
Wildlife experts have long concluded that “hunting is an effective form of wildlife management that involves the harvesting of old wildlife that would likely soon die of natural causes and that would also be replaced by younger species without causing population decline.”
According to the 1997 World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) wildlife hunting quota-setting manual, the main purpose of a quota is to identify the number of animals that can be killed without reducing the population. Hunting doesn’t have a detrimental impact on wildlife, as only 0.5-3 percent of the population is hunted.
President-elect Ruto who is already doing well in his business should be the man to unlock the full value of wildlife for Kenyans. He should tell the Western animal rights groups to leave Kenyans alone so that they can reintroduce international hunting. Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi recently listened to the Botswana wildlife producer communities and re-introduced international hunting after it had been banned by animal rights groups captured former president Ian Khama. Ruto can also listen to Kenyan communities and re-introduce international hunting to Kenya after it was banned by former President Jomo Kenyatta.
Speaking from the underbelly of Kenya’s failed international hunting ban where poaching has continued since the ban in 1977 and the entire rhino population has been wiped out and also where rural poverty continues, in Kasigau Rural Community - that falls under the Taita Tavoti Wildlife conservancy Association, Ms Eunice Ngali said that she was "not at all benefiting from wildlife."
“I was not aware that in Southern Africa revenue from hunted wildlife is being used to build schools,” said Ms Ngali excitedly. “It would be great if we can go on a look and learn visit to Southern African countries to find out more about their benefits from hunting. Here in Kenya, I would like to use hunting revenue to pay for our children’s bursaries.”
Meanwhile, the Chairman of Kasigau Wildlife Ranch, Mr Jonathan Manjeje questioned the Kenyan Government’s justification for “leaving a lot of buffaloes rotting in the scarcity of water.”
“The buffaloes are struggling to feed with cattle,” said Mr Manjeje. “Their grass is also exhausted. If we are overgrazing buffaloes, why don’t we reduce them by culling them? Yeah, it’s like hunting but in a way that is regularised.”
About the writer: Emmanuel Koro is a Johannesburg-based international award-winning journalist who writes independently on environment and development issues in Africa.