Govt agencies fall out over Aberdare electric fence

A standoff between the Forest Service and the Kenya Wildlife Service over the size of an elephant corridor threatens to delay the completion of the 400-kilometre fence around the Aberdare Mountain.

The electric fence project is in its last 40 kilometre stretch that is to be completed in the next six or seven months.

The two government agencies which fall under the same ministry have agreed on the need to establish a corridor linking Kipipiri mountain and the Aberdare but they have not agreed on its size.

Experts from both agencies have been proposing different widths for the corridor.

According to Colin Church, the chairman of Rhino Ark charitable trust which initiated and has been spearheading the construction of the electric fence, failure by the KFS to clear 36 trees standing in the way of the designated fence line has also caused unnecessary delay.

Equally concerned is KWS assistant director for the mountain region Otunga Baraza.

Mr Baraza insists that the proposed corridor has to be created by experts.

“You can imagine what elephants can do to a 400-metre corridor. These animals do not just pass through a corridor; they can spend even two days within the passage,” he said.

The Rhino Ark, which embarked on the construction of the fence in 1988, has set a tentative date for its completion in September followed by commissioning in November.

On its completion, the electric fence will the longest of its kind in Africa. The project cost over Ksh600 million ($75 million) raised through local and foreign partners.

Kipipiri mountain, which has a perimeter of 55 kilometres, was not part of the original plan since it is a forest reserve.

It was later included in the fence project as it is both a breeding area for elephants and the source of about 12 streams that feed Lake Naivasha.

In addition, the mountain has some prized indigenous tree species which for many years have been illegally exploited by poachers.

The electric fence would guarantee their protection.

However, the latest hiccups are CREATING fears that the completion of the fence could be delayed.

This came into the open last November when KFS officers allegedly failed to turn up for a consultative meeting that was expected to resolve the matter.

Another consultative meeting held later in December tasked the KFS deputy director in charge of plantations Anthony Maina and the KWS Elephant Programme co-ordinator Moses Litoro to visit the disputed area and agree on the size of the corridor.

“Instead, each went there individually and made their own proposals. We were surprised when they presented two reports with different proposals about the size of the corridor,” KFS head of Central Highland Conservancy Stephen Karega said.

Mr Karega said the KFS had proposed a corridor of 400 metres wide while Rhino Ark and the KWS propose a minimum of 1.5 kilometres.

Mr Litoro’s report presented before the consultative meeting argued that a narrow corridor like the one KFS was proposing could lead to degradation of land and destruction of the fence and therefore proposed one that is at least 1.5km wide.

With both experts going different ways the meeting ended.

The two officers were asked to organize another site visit from which they should come with a recommendation that is acceptable to both parties.