The Secretary in the State Department and wildlife Shadrack Ngene is joined by leaders, including Kitui South MP Rachel Nyamai, as he hands over the Sh52 million dummy cheques for Human Wildlife conflict compensation to Kitui Deputy Governor Augustine Kanani at Mutomo in Kitui South on May 22, 2025/PHOTO:Musembi Nzengu.Leaders from Kitui County have protested against the discontinuation of compensation for snake bite victims by the government.
They said the decision left victims disenfranchised and without government support which is not only discriminatory but unfair and inhuman.
The leaders, including Deputy Governor Augustine Kanani, Kitui South MP Rachel Nyamai and MCAs demanded the reinstatement of the compensation.
They faulted the 2018 decision to amend the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act, 2013, as unsympathetic of the many people killed or left permanently maimed by snakes.
The leaders spoke on Thursday at the Mutomo trading centre in Kitui South during the International Biodiversity Day and the launch of the Human Wildlife Compensation Scheme fetes in Kitui county.
The Secretary in the State Department and wildlife Shadrack Ngene, Kitui Deputy Governor Augustine Kanani and Kitui South MP Rachel Nyamai during the International Biodiversity Day celebration at Mutomo in Kitui South on May 22, 2025/PHOTO: Musembi Nzengu.
Records show that up to 800 snakebite incidences happened in Kitui annually.
Both Kanani and Nyamai were emphatic that Kitui bore the highest burden of snakebites after Baringo county, adding that failing to compensate victims was an unfair treatment of the segment of the Kenyan population.
“I know there are efforts being made to restore compensation to snake bite victims but it needs to be fast-tracked. The prevailing circumstances are tantamount to unfairly condemning the victims,” Kanani said.
MP Nyamai wondered what rationale was applied in suspending the payout while attacks from elephants, lions, buffaloes, hyenas and other wild animals qualified for compensation.
She vowed to fight tooth and nail for the reinstatement of the payout as it largely affected her electorates and the people of Kitui at large.
“I will move to the floor of the National Assembly where I will argue to have compensation of snake bite attacks reinstated. The current state of affairs amounts to punishing people who are attacked by snakes,” the MP said.
Ngene handed over a dummy cheque of Sh52 million to Kanani to signify the amount of money paid out to residents of Kitui for wildlife attacks during the financial year 2024-25. He said the money went to 26 beneficiaries.
In a speech read on her behalf by Ngene, CS Miano called for concerted efforts in securing a future where no family suffers from wildlife losses without support, and where Kenya’s wildlife biodiversity continues to be a source of pride, prosperity and ecological balance.
“Our wildlife is a critical asset, supporting nature-based tourism, sustaining ecosystems and contributing to climate resilience,” the CS said
