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Wajir County is one of Kenya’s richest wildlife landscapes, yet one of the least supported. [File, Standard]
For the first time in Kenya’s history, Madaraka Day celebrations will be held in Wajir County. That decision matters. It matters politically. It matters historically. But above all, it matters environmentally.
President William Ruto will address the nation from the very county that hosts the largest remaining population of Somali giraffes (reticulated) anywhere in the world. That fact alone should force Kenya to finally look north.
For decades, Northern Kenya was treated as a hardship zone, a security problem, or an afterthought. Yet as habitat destruction accelerates across much of Southern Kenya, the future of Kenya’s wildlife increasingly rests in the drylands of the North especially Wajir, Garissa, Mandera, Marsabit, Samburu and Isiolo. The irony is painful.
