KWS Receives 26 Vehicles from General Motors

Kenya Wildlife Service today received a fleet of 26 new vehicles worth Ksh50 million from General Motors as part of the ongoing efforts to improve its operations.

The vehicles handed over by Mr Bill Lay, the General Motors General Manager to Mr Daniel Ndonye, the KWS Board of Trustees chairman, at the KWS headquarters in Nairobi, are part of a fleet bought at a cost of Ksh. 245 million in the last financial year.

KWS staff led by their director, Mr Julius Kipng’etich, attended the function.

At the same function, the Director presented to the Chairman the Environmental category award in the annual Company of the Year Award (COYA) that KWS scooped recently. This award is a sure sign of KWS commitment to environmental management. That KWS managed to get the award yet this was the first time it was subjecting its operations to peer scrutiny is significant.

Mr Kipng’etich, on the other hand, said the vehicles would help KWS in its vision to be a science and market driven organization. He added that Lake Nakuru and Tsavo East National Parks had hit the KSh. 500,000 mark and Amboseli and Tsavo West National Parks are expected to reach the same level by the end of this financial year.

In the current financial year 2007/2008, KWS plans to spend Ksh. 320 million on the purchase of vehicles and other related equipment.

The fleet replacement programme that has been running for the last five years is meant to increase efficiency while reducing the costs of maintenance.

The bulk of the vehicles received today, mainly double cabins, will be used in wildlife research, conservation areas administration and security operations countrywide. These vehicles will be deployed in KWS field research stations to facilitate field research activities such as inventory, survey and assessments. This will ensure the fulfillment of expanding demands for research information for decision-making.

For along time the assistant directors in the field have been having difficulties in transport matters and this new fleet is largely going to cater for their needs. This will not only ease transport for them but also effectively monitor other junior officers present in their area of jurisdiction.

From National Parks and Reserves, the arrival of the vehicles means effective and appropriate management of the parks. Similarly, this will also create an effective channel of interaction between the KWS officers and the communities.

Five of the vehicles purchased will be allocated to Security operations, which will enable them to open patrol bases in areas not initially covered, to ensure that security presence in the protected areas is felt more.

Fleet efficiency remains the backbone of response to many KWS activities including Problem Animal Control, Wildlife Security Operations and other administrative activities.

In December last year, the Minister for Tourism and Wildlife Hon Morris Dzoro received 93 vehicles under the same programme. This purchase was a big milestone in our organization given that for a long time we relied on donor funds to make such purchases. Now we have continued on that path.

“Even as we strengthen delivery of our mandate through purchase of vehicles, we have also paid attention to other areas. To boost staff morale, our staff will receive a pay increase beginning this financial year. We have also successfully implemented the branding programme in which 14 parks have been branded,” the Chairman said.

As we continue acquiring more vehicles, management of a huge fleet poses another challenge. To this end, the organisation is procuring fleet management software. While the software will ensure that the vehicles are used in their intended form, it will also encompass all other aspects of fleet management like schedules for replacement and equitable allocation.