The national government has waived a Sh700 million debt owed to the owners of Leopard Rock Hotel by the county government of Meru.
The owner of the lodge, which was located in Meru National Park filed a suit in 2019 after the administration of the then governor Kiraitu Murungi forcibly took over the lodge after issuing a second notice of termination of a lease contract with the hotelier.
The first notice was issued by the first Governor Peter Munya.
Speaking in Meru County during the launch of Human-Wildlife Conflict Compensation Programme at Murera Grounds near Meru National Park President William Ruto said he has held talks with the Meru leadership and resolved to settle the debt in order to cushion the region from financial problems as well as protect its reputation as a tourist destination.
“There were issues with an investor, Leopard Rock and we will negotiate with him on how to make the payment. My government will pay the money instead of Meru to avoid them getting into financial problems,” said the president.
The president said the waiver of the debt will enable the county government to carry out other interventions, including construction of facilities that will attract more tourists and raise revenue from the park.
To mitigate conflict with wildlife and human beings in the county, the president directed Wildlife and Tourism Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano to look for resources that will be used to fence the entire Meru National Park.
To raise revenues from national parks and national reserves, President Ruto said the government was constructing about 40 facilities that will attract more tourists to the parks.
He said the government is also keen to improve infrastructure leading to Meru National park and in this regard, Sh250 million has been set aside to renovate Mulika airstrip.
He said the money will not be enough but more will be added to unlock the potential in Meru National park for the good of Meru and Kenya in general.
“Not only foreign tourists will be coming to the park, we also need to encourage local tourists and there is need to facilitate them by ensuring there is proper infrastructure,” said the president.
“We have directed that the revenues from the parks be collected through e-citizen, which has enabled us to realise Sh7 billion from the previous Sh5.3 billion and we are targeting Sh7.5 billion in the next financial year. This money will be used to pay our rangers and enhance sustainability since conservation requires a lot of resources,” said the President.
He added: “We have agreed and Kenya Wildlife Service has given leases to three hotels at Meru National park and local investors will also be engaged. I know we have people who can do this here because we can’t get tourists without somewhere they can be accommodated.”
The president said his government was passionate about compensating victims of human-wildlife conflict and this was evidenced by the fact that they have released about Sh2.8 billion in two years as opposed to Sh2.7 billion which has been released between 2013 and 2022.
“It’s our responsibility as a government to ensure that Kenyans don’t wait for many years to be compensated. That is the reason I advised that we need to compensate in the shortest time possible through digitization,” said the president.
To make this a success, we have officers to work with rangers to ensure reports about the destruction of crops or injuries are complete within 90 days so we can see whether we can do the compensation within four months.
By Dickson Mwiti
