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The Maa community yesterday held a thanksgiving ceremony at Amboseli National Park sending messages of gratitude to President William Ruto for reverting the park to the county management.

In a mega thanksgiving ceremony characterized by pomp, colour, song, dance and prayer, the Maa community members and leaders drawn from Kajiado, Samburu and Narok counties appealed to the concerned stakeholders to facilitate the process of handing over the park to the county government of Kajiado.

Recently, President Ruto while attending a Maa cultural event at Narok that he had reverted the park to the county government.

Governors Joseph Ole Lenku (Kajiado), Patrick Ntuutu (Narok) and Lati Lelelit (Samburu) in one accord sent a message of gratitude to Ruto saying the move is a big boost to the Maa community at large.

The trio said they will also rally the Maa community on the best ways to address human-wildlife conflict to ensure easier and sustainable management of the park predominately occupied by elephants.

Lenku said the reverting of the park is a step in addressing historical land injustices meted against the Maasai community.

He said the county is willing to work with all stakeholders to ensure a seamless transition of the park management.

“The return of Amboseli to the Maasai is timely and we appreciate it. We thank the President. I also want to reassure the president that as leaders we will not let you down. We are ready to build our capacity to ensure proper management of the park to make it more lucrative and a better tourist attraction park,” said Lenku.