Kenya: Officers from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) paid a Courtesy call to the Chief Conservator of Forests, Alex Lemarkoko.
The officers, Barnabas Kibui Gioche and Samantha De Vries, who are Consultants in Environmental Crimes, thanked the CCF for the support received from his office since the inception of the KFS/UNODC partnership dating back to 2014.
They noted that from the partnership, a Rapid Reference Guide (RRG) booklet has been developed for Forestry, Wildlife, Fisheries and Marine Crimes for use by prosecutors and investigators across the country.
The team briefed the CCF on their next step in the collaboration Journey, going around various forest stations to get feedback from the field officers on the level of use and the impact of the RRG on Forestry crimes.
They indicated they would inform the areas of improvement and further training in the near future. The CCF welcomed the move and requested them to be as objective as possible and also give honest feedback to his office after their field visit.
While thanking the team for the continuous support of the Service on capacity building, the CCF noted that a number of KFS officers had been taken through various capacity-building sessions sponsored by UNODC, including the use of the RRG.
He also informed the visitors of the Government’s move to employ 2,700 rangers who have since graduated and deployed to various forest stations. He further noted that these numbers were critical and came at the very right time when conservation efforts were required most in the country.
According to the CCF, more patrols, surveillance and detection of crimes would be achieved with the doubling of the number of rangers. He, however, requested the UNODC to consider upscaling capacity-building programmes for the new rangers for improved work performance
In attendance at the meeting was the Ag. Principal Legal Officer, Laura Yego, among other officers.