For almost a week plus now Kenyans are treated to a theatrical of counter-accusations between the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the Union of Veterinary Practitioners of Kenya. The Ministry of Tourism is being accused of embarking on a botched translocation exercise that was meant to transfer 14 Black Rhinos from Nakuru and Nairobi national parks to Tsavo East National Park rhino sanctuary; without a fully functioning KWS board. The first batch consisting of eleven of the endangered animals had been moved in an attempt to start a new rhino population. However, an investigative committee formed on 17 July 2018 by the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife reported that highly saline water, dehydration, starvation and bacterial attack were responsible for the deaths of 10 black rhinos out of the first batch transferred.
Richard Leakey former KWS chair and Union of Veterinary Practitioners of Kenya both accused the Minister of Tourism and Wildlife CS, Najib Balala and that he should take responsibility. However, Balala absolved the ministry from blame, arguing that a fully autonomous technical team is responsible for the programme that is funded by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Furthermore, the CS suspended six senior officials in charge of the relocation and demoted KWS Director-General Julius Kimani on Thursday, 26 July 2018. The Kenyan public and both local and international mainstream media kept highlighting and discussing the issue as a matter of life and death!
Kenya as a colonial secular state whose policy priorities are dictated by its invalid secular capitalist ideology emanating from western-secular colonialist masters, Britain. Britain views Kenya as her colonial farm and its president as her colonial farm manager. The farm is composed of three components the manager, workers and ‘precious animals’ owned by the colonial master. In that case, Kenya invest heavily in tourism and wildlife since it wants to please her western-masters and their people!
That is why Tourism in Kenya is the second-largest source of foreign exchange revenue following agriculture and the ministry in-charge is ever up and down developing strategies; on how best to serve the tourists who possess the “best culture” of walking naked and taking booze amongst doing other filthy acts all over the place in the name of exercising personal freedom in their colonial farm. Strategies to revive Kenya’s tourism sector bore fruit after the country recorded a 20.3 percent in 2017 to post earnings of Sh120 billion despite the long electioneering period. This is an improvement from the Sh99.69 billion earned in 2016 according to Tourism and Wildlife CS, Najib Balala. Latest statistics released by the ministry show international arrivals increased by 9.8 percent to 1.4 million from the previous year’s 1.3 million tourists.
With such reports from a government which is enslaved and dependent on tourism foreign-exchange revenue the death of one black rhino is a catastrophic blunder such that it will cost them numerous losses spanning from low-tourist turnout, poor hotels uptake etc. Since benefit is the criterion for actions in this secular regimes nothing will be entertained that might impede them from realizing their benefits. For instance KWS warning residents not to kill stray animals when they destroy their properties, or attempting to maim or kill them; instead they should just watch them do whatever they intend and the resident to report to KWS which most of the time it does nothing or takes time in terms of compensation despite having Wildlife Conservation and Management Act, 2013. Initial people were compensated with Ksh.50,000 for crops and Ksh.200,000 for death and today after the Act came into place in 2013: Section 25 of the Wildlife Management and Conservation Act, 2013 stipulates that in the case of death, Sh5 million is paid to victims. Cases of injury resulting in permanent disability will be compensated Sh3 million, according to the Act. Depending on extent of injury, other injuries attract a maximum of Sh2 million. Damaged crops are also compensated, based on the market value of the crops. But there are people whose cases despite being genuine they are still languishing years after lodging for compensation claims. Surprisingly in 2017, a report titled State of Wildlife Conservation in Kenya 2016; former Environment CS Judy Wakhungu said compensation claims from snakebite incidents had risen to KSh.1.5 billion. Later on in 2018 government is proposing for amendment to the ACT that death and injury caused by poisonous snake, shark, stone fish, whale, stingray and wild pig will be struck off the compensation list. It also proposes to stop compensation for crops and property damaged by elephant, lion, leopard, rhino, hyena, crocodile, cheetah, buffalo, zebra, eland, wildebeest, snake and wild dog. However, livestock loss will continue to be compensated!
In the Khilafah (Islamic State) the Bait ul-Mal (The State Treasury) will include the following revenue sources: booties (Fai’), spoils (Ghana’im), land tax (Kharaj), head tax (Jizya), different types of public property revenues, the revenues of the State properties, the tithes (Ushr), the fifth of the hidden treasure (Rikaz), the minerals, and the funds of the Zakat. Note: The tax mentioned here (Land Tax & Head tax) should not be mistaken as the ones currently being imposed on people by the secular regimes. Tourism is not and will not be part of revenue for the Khilafah since tourism in itself is an idea to perpetuate colonialism or neo-colonialism disguised as an economic activity. Therefore, Khilafah’s foreign policy as dictated by the pure Islamic doctrine would not entertain such ideas both internal and external. The Khilafah will protect the lives of the people and those of the animals, because both are Allah’s creations and the animals (wildlife) will be utilized depending on the adopted policy of the Khalifah (ruler) at that time.
As for the value of human lives, Allah (swt) says:
وَلَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِي ءَادَمَ وَحَمَلْنَاهُمْ فِي ٱلْبَرِّ وَٱلْبَحْرِ وَرَزَقْنَاهُمْ مِّنَ ٱلطَّيِّبَاتِ وَفَضَّلْنَاهُمْ عَلَىٰ كَثِيرٍ مِّمَّنْ خَلَقْنَا تَفْضِيلاً
“And surely we have honoured the children of Adam, and carried them on the land and at the sea, and provided them with good things, and we have made them to excel by an appropriate excellence over many of those we created.” [Al-Israa: 70]
Written for Radio Rahma
Ali Nassoro Ali
Member of the Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Kenya
Article No.5 Friday, 21 Dhu al-Qi’dah 1439 | 2018/08/03