Kenya's Forestry and Wildlife Minister Noah Wekesa on Thursday said the government plans to restructure Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to check the emerging poaching trends in local conservation areas.

Wekesa while condemning the recent killing of 11 elephants at Tsavo National Park said reforms at the institution will help combat the vice threatening the country's biggest foreigner income earner.

"The ministry has embarked on major reforms at the institution to ensure intensive training of the rangers and possible approaches to stamp out poaching in our national parks," Wekesa told journalists in Western Kenyan town of Kitale.

Wekesa singled out understaffing in the KWS as a major setback curtailing the fight against poaching in the country, arguing that the KWS lack adequate funding to overcome the challenges.

"It has been not easy to curb the vice (poaching) since there are fewer KWS rangers in comparison to the area that they are assigned to every officer. We have not been able to recruit more officers due to lack of funds," he said.

The minister said officials at the KWS will be trained to secure more skills in combating poaching and laxity among the rangers eradicated.

"Poaching has become a great challenge as a result of understaffing and under-equipping in the KWS service and we plan to search for a lasting solution to the vice," he said.

The minister said rogue merchants have invaded the East Africa region and employed the service of poachers owing to a rise in the price of ivory.

"There are rogue businessmen who have taken control of the East Africa region and are luring poachers with good money for ivory hence a rise in poaching," said the minister.

He urged the government to intensify a crackdown of illegal firearms among communities around conservation areas noting the illegal firearms were used to perpetrate the menace.

"Illegal guns in the hands of civilians are being used by poachers. There is urgent need for the government to disarm the illegal gun handlers," he urged.

He announced a planned meeting between cabinet counterparts from Uganda and Tanzania to deliberate on possible ways of combating the vice in the region.

"Soon we are going to convene a meeting with my counterparts from Uganda and Tanzania to deliberate the way forward since the concerns by the governments of the three countries over a rise in Poaching are common," the minister said.

Wekesa also disclosed that the Kenyan Government has set up a task force to ascertain loopholes that have led to a rise in poaching cases in the country.

"We have formed a team to find out what has been leading to a rise in poaching which is threatening Tourism," said Wekesa. Endi

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