Parliament has allocated Sh800 million for setting up an insurance scheme to compensate victims of human-wildlife conflict whose claims stand at Sh2.72 billion in the current financial year.
The National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC) says the Wildlife Department had been funded to the tune of Sh800 million to start the scheme in 2023/24.
“The pilot phase of the Human-Wildlife Conflict Insurance is planned to be implemented in six hotspots counties of Taita Taveta, Narok, Kajiado, Garissa, Meru and Makueni,” BAC said in a report on the 2023/24 Budget Estimates.
BAC said the total claims were 663 cases of which 312 had been partially paid while 6,351 claims were yet to be paid.
The Treasury allocated Sh600 million for compensation this financial year.
Parliament last year decried the wildlife compensation budget deficit, saying it would condemn more victims to a longer wait.
The wildlife department has been working on an insurance scheme to pay victims of wildlife death, injuries, predation and crop destruction.
Silvia Museiya, Wildlife Principal Secretary, in February, announced the ministry was developing an insurance scheme.
“The committee recommends that beginning the financial year 2023/2024, the State Department for Wildlife prioritises operationalisation of the wildlife insurance scheme to compensate victims of human-wildlife conflict and submits a progress report to the National Assembly by December 31, 2023,” BAC said.
A compensation of Sh5 million is paid to the next of kin in cases of human death after verification.
