Boinnet team proposes end to snake bites compensation

Taxpayers will not compensate individuals hurt or killed by snake bites if recommendations of a task force is adopted in the efforts to curb rising claims that now stand at Sh5 billion.

The task force on human-wildlife compensation schemes, led by Tourism and Wildlife Chief Administrative Secretary Joseph Boinnet, wants removal of snake attacks from the list of compensation.

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has blamed snake bites for the rising compensation claims bill in a period that has seen an escalation of conflict between the serpents and humans.

The task force seeks the State to only pay for death or injury due to elephant, lion, leopard, rhino, hyena, crocodile, cheetah, buffalo, hippopotamus and wild dog attacks.

Tourism and Wildlife Secretary Najib Balala said snake bites accounts for 60 per cent of Sh5 billion wildlife attack compensation.

“My ministry is working closely with the Ministry of Health to ensure rural dispensaries are equipped with anti-venoms to save lives. In addition, community education and awareness will be enhanced to ensure that cases of human wildlife conflict are minimised,” he said while receiving the report on human-wildlife conflict compensation schemes.

Cases of snakebites, leading to limb amputations and even death, have dramatically risen in the past decade from 20 reported cases in 2003 to over 500.

Experts attribute the jump to global warming, which has enabled snakes to move to previously cooler habitats, clearing of forests and the worsening droughts that force the reptiles to go into people’s houses to look for water.

Parliamentary Committee on Environment and Natural Resources has also been pushing to lower the compensation rates to make them affordable to the KWS. The MPs reckoned that the 2013 decision to amend the Wildlife Management and Conservation Act had left the taxpayer with the Sh5 billion bill needed to compensate victims of human-wildlife conflict.

The team sought to amend the Act to remove a provision that set a minimum Sh5 million compensation for every life lost.

Section 25 of the Act stipulates that Sh5 million will be paid for human death, Sh3 million for injury with permanent disability and up to Sh2 million for other injuries.

Previously, compensation for a death stood at Sh200, 000 while those with injuries were paid Sh50, 000.

“We have started the process of undertaking comprehensive review of the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act 2013 and to effect the new Wildlife Policy,” Mr Balala said.

He said 494 people were killed by wildlife between 2014 and June 2018 with victims having sought Sh10 billion as claims for deaths, injuries, crop destruction, predation and property damage.

“We formed an inter-ministerial committee to review the Sh10 billion claims and managed to realize discrepancies of about Sh4 billion in fake or fraudulent claims. That figure was brought down to about Sh6 billion out of which Sh1.5 billion has been paid from 2017 to date,” Mr Balala said while receiving a report of Task Force on Mitigation of Human Wildlife.

The State will introduce an insurance scheme to manage risks and settle liabilities associated with human-wildlife conflict (HWC).

The Treasury has maintained its Sh500 million allocation to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) in the last two financial years.