Tharaka Nithi governor Muthomi Njuki wants the national government to enter into partnerships with counties that border national parks in a bid to financially benefit the communities in the counties.
Muthomi was referring to a deal akin to the one the government has with Kajiado and Narok counties in relation to Amboseli and Maasai Mara parks.
In line with this year’s Jamhuri Day celebration’s theme advocating for tourism and wildlife, Governor Njuki noted the importance of the counties bordering parks also reaping big from the tourists visiting their regions while enumerating the many sites in the county that have become key sources of income for the country yet not benefiting the local communities that maintain them.
Speaking at the newly built Kajiunduthi stadium in Muthambi ward, Maara constituency, the governor also called on the residents to maintain the highest standards of conserving the tourism income earners, as he champions his message for revenue sharing.
Governor Njuki said the deal between the national government and Narok and Kajiado counties has boosted their revenue collection and thus contributes to bettering their people’s lives.
And in a strongly worded statement directed to residents invading forests and cutting indigenous trees, the governor and the county commissioner David Gitonga put on notice unscrupulous individuals doing logging that the government will soon catch up with them as they risk destroying the ecosystem. He said those forests are home to the rarely seen pancake tortoise and should therefore be conserved.
By Dickson Mwiti
