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Poachers and Celtel

Category: Poachers | Date: Mar 28 2008 | By: William

I’ve just been talking to Jackson Semeiyoi, the latest ranger to be sponsored in our campaign. He has been guarding the poacher all of this morning, until he was taken to Kilgoris Police Station.

Poacher in Vehicle

He was caught late yesterday afternoon, with one machete and four snares, and he was on his way to hunt so had not yet killed any animals.

Machete and snares

Rangers also found out from the man that he was part of a group of five, and they will lay an ambush for the remaining men.

The poacher is Kenyan, and it is probable that he would have eaten some of the bush meat and the rest he would have sold commercially on the local market, maybe even in Kisumu.

Being taken to Kilgoris Police Station

Poacher taken to Kilgoris Police Station this morning.

Other news:

I’ve also just been talking to Janet Kabue who is the Corporate Affairs Manager for Celtel in Kenya.

For those of you not in Africa, Celtel is a huge mobile phone network that covers fourteen countries, which you can apparently roam at no extra cost - pretty amazing really (although my Congolese Celtel sim card would never work here in Kenya). Their brand colours are red with some yellow, and at the end of last year one of their billboard adverts was a stunning image of Maasai men in traditional dress.

I’ve searched everywhere for the image online but unfortunately can’t find it, however to give you an idea of how well the Maasai fitted in with their branding, here is a photo I found in Flickr, taken by neku2:

Maasai and Celtel

I’ve also just found some of this Maasai/Celtel branding left over on their website.

Celtel Branding on website

Anyway, because we are in the Maasai Mara, and most of our rangers are Maasai, and because we work closely with the Maasai communities up on the escarpment, I spoke to Janet this morning about the Sponsor a Ranger Campaign, thinking that they would be quite interested in taking part. With regards to Celtel and sponsorship, Janet told me the following:

“We are not interested in animals or conservation, we are only interested in music and young people.”

Well, at least she’s honest.

And it made me wonder; are young Kenyans also not interested in animals and conservation?

Do any of you Kenyan bloggers out there think Celtel’s interest in conservation is a fair reflection of your own?

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22 Responses to “Poachers and Celtel”

Theresa Siskind St Petersburg FL, on 28 Mar 2008

Wow, her response was not something I would have expected. Nor are her beliefs representative of young people, I’m sure of that. Since when did music and love for animals become a choice of one over the other? Janet, if you are listening, hear our plea, we need your help, please reconsider your decision.

Paco León, on 28 Mar 2008

Dear Joseph

I have included you in the Solidary Blog Award, due your labor, sharing with the worldwide network all about what is happening in the Mara.

Thanks a lot!

You can have a look at my blog “All About Safaris”, but I am afraid it is in Spanish

http://todosobresafaris.com/2008/03/25/premios-blog-solidario/

Paula, on 28 Mar 2008

I think you should get that quote put in the local newspapers. Celtel have done some amazing philanthropic activities in Kenya - she is an embarassment to that company. Who can we write to?

Louise L, on 28 Mar 2008

Shame on her- it would have been acceptable had she said “I” rather than “we”. I think we need to find out if this is really CELTEL policy or if she was just having a bad day. I think we need to clarify this urgently and if it is the case then they should be ashamed of themselves. Lets find out.

F. J. Pechir, on 28 Mar 2008

Wildlife tourist is one of the prime economical incomes for Kenya, and i mean for All the country. If you help in the conservation of wildlife, you are helping also to the whole Kenian´s economy. There you have a REAL example of what can be considered as an ignorant and stupid answer!

Will, on 28 Mar 2008

My jaw did hit the ground when she said this. Especially after I had read on the Celtel website about all of the social projects that they have been involved in:

http://www.ke.celtel.com/en/about-us/social-projects/index.html

Although none of these projects involve conservation, I thought that they would be more forward thinking when it came to protecting Kenya’s wildlife.

sheryl, washington dc, on 28 Mar 2008

Paula, you read my mind. Who is Janet’s boss? There’s a David Murray listed on their Web site as CEO. Will, can you try to get a call to Mr. Murray?

The press should also be contacted about this scandalous quote. Does Janet really believe there’ll be music and young people in Kenya without wildlife and wild places? Perhaps this extreme shortsightedness and ignorance is hers and not the company’s?

s.

sheryl, washington dc, on 28 Mar 2008

Although … after reading about one of their social projects titled “Relief as project saves residents from marauding baboons,” where they drilled a borehole and diverted water into a village, I wonder what happened to the animals who drank at the watering hole? Perhaps they truly do not care about animals and conservation.

That makes them SATAN, IMO.

s.

Fiona, on 28 Mar 2008

David Murray resigned: http://www.cellular-news.com/story/28640.php

sheryl, washington dc, on 28 Mar 2008

Man, they should update their Web site. Tacky, tacky.

s.

Lisa, California, on 28 Mar 2008

FJ, you’re awesome. Couldn’t have said it better myelf. When will people get it? Will, I recently made a donation on this blog, but I just got word from my bank that they didn’t let it go through. I’ve been having a bit of trouble with my account lately. I’ll have to work it out and try again. : ) Keep up the good work everyone and hopefully with a little luck and lots of hard work, we can change some of the ignorant and careless minds in this world. Lisa

jogany, on 28 Mar 2008

Hi Joseph,

This blog is awesome and I wish you the best for your great work at Mara Conservancy.
I have few friends who have worked for Celtel in Madagascar and this company seems also to have no regards to environment and local economy when installing their receptors in the forest, they’re practically destroying everything around…but again they’Re not the only ones…
I’m convinced that young people are aware about the threats on biodiversity but seem to also believe they’re powerless…and this is not good!

micamonkey, on 28 Mar 2008

I’m sad to say that we encounter things like this where I’m from and I would think it’s everywhere. A lot of companies who supposedly do a lot of great CSR work and sponsorship sometimes are very blind and narrow-minded in their support. To them, helping “people” is good PR without thinking that conservation is very much an essential part of the people’s heritage. Conservation is just as important to people in a less direct way that simply escapes these people-in-suit’s limited imagination. I think it’s great if you can get the young people to write and express how they think animal conservation are important to them. If there is some way you can get young maasai people to express this sentiment, even better. Go to the press with it and then send it back to Celtel or just go to another company and make them look good instead of Celtel. Sometimes it’s important to spelling it out for these administrators how people and conservation mutually benefits each other when it comes to sponsorship.

Mzungu Chick, on 29 Mar 2008

You should send this over to Safaricom - they’ll love it and then can hopefully sponsor a ranger and show Celtel how its done!

Safaricom are very involved in the Lewa Marathon and such, are they not? So at least they’ve proved they actually do care about Kenya. Best head their way instead.

Colleen Perrin, on 29 Mar 2008

I’m reading AfricaNews, Kenya re-branding campaign.. some good news from my seal-bashing country anyway.
http://www.africanews.com/site/list_messages/16834

“In the meantime Canada has lifted its travel ban imposed on Kenya after December violence becoming the first to do so.

The lifting of the advisory came days after passing into law of 2 crucial laws in the parliament legalizing the creation of a grand coalition government .

Visiting Canadian parliamentary secretary for foreign relations Deepak Omar said the prevailing conditions in Kenya called for lifting of the ban since peace had been restored.

“ The situation in Kenya has greatly improved and a travel ban cannot be justified anymore “ he said.

The Canadian called on other countries with advisories in place to remove them to help Kenya fully recover from effects of the elections turmoil.”

Colleen Perrin, on 29 Mar 2008

and.. the saturday paper today has a feature on travel in Africa and says don’t rule out Kenya, in many ways, never been a better time to visit. prices have been slashed etc etc.

Will, on 29 Mar 2008

Gracias Paco for the award, I will show Kimojino when he gets back.

In response to micamonkey and Mzungu Chick, Safaricom have been contacted. We’ll have to wait and see what they say…

That’s great news Colleen! Karibuni Canadians!

Dana-Phoenix Arizona, on 29 Mar 2008

I too am blown away by Janet’s comment and if her reply represents the sentiments of Celtel, shame on you Celtel. Will certainly be interesting, if Safaricom replys, what their statement will be. This is a time for ALL Kenyan business leaders to come together and support the Mara Conservancy in its time of need. I applaud Paws Africa, Sunworld Safaris and Dormans for stepping up to the plate. Thank you!!!

Dipesh Pabari, on 29 Mar 2008

My suggestion is to put this blog on the Kenya Unlimited blogs Aggregator. U need to start by making the blog present in an a Kenyan context as it will start to then be picked up by Kenyans. We are all responsible for creating a space in Kenya that does not include the Kenyan online community.
Will, you know there a thousand local aggregators, etc that will immediately draw the Kenyan crowd. I have started a great mutual relationship with Kenya Environmental and Political Blog and they have already reepublished a couple of WildlifeDirect posts. Kabissa.org is also a good place to start fitting into the African context.
Regarding, the celtel quote, I will send this in to a couple local papers who we have good relationships with.

Pirjo,Finland, on 30 Mar 2008

Will, great news about the companies sponsoring your work. It’s really in their best interests to support your work, because without you lot they would eventually go out of business . It really is vital to create a strong bond between the conservation projects and the companies who benefit from the well-being of the wildlife. It’s a great marketing asset for companies to inform their customers of the fact that they are sponsoring your work. That message will definitely has an impact on tourists travelling to see the wildlife.

This cellphone company should put their act together and educate their staff about the importance of a good company image.. Unbelievable that somebody can say anything that stupid!

kimojino, on 31 Mar 2008

Thank you all our readers!Your comments to this post reflects your heartly desire and committment to wildlife conservation,so having a person of Janet`s attitude is so disturbing.
Currently all Kenyans as a whole are feeling effects of the last two months when the whole country was in chaos.The Tourism industry which is one the country`s economic booster entirely depend on wildlife and it`s habitats.Conservation and protection of these areas has become a problem without money that has been coming from tourists.Many organisations and bussinesses were saverely affected,rendering thousands of kenyans jobless and poor.
Celtel i believe must be involve in the conservation of kenya`s natural resources for the benefit of the present and future generations.The young kenyans should not be taken for granted,and are not blind to notice what is happening around them.Many of them depend on tourism,and if poachers are left to roam our parks without control, there will be no future for all of us.Even celtel one day will feel the effects of their lust for music.The entire maasai community are the only people at the moment accommodate wild animals along with their livestocks,so why do celtel use their colours proudly and ignore wildlife which is their main economic earner.They should think again and correct their position.

Another arrest | Mara Triangle, on 05 Apr 2008

[…] law allows rangers to pursue poachers after they have left the park. Following the arrest of a poacher on the 28th of March, there was good information on the whereabouts of other men who were poaching in the same area, and […]

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