A lobby has moved to court seeking the cancellation of a title deed issued to a developer who has since fenced off a part of the woodland on the outskirts of Nairobi.
The more than 100 members of Kibiko Community Forest Association have sued Geoffrey Tenai alongside top government officials including Lands Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome and her Environment and Forestry counterpart, Soipan Tuya, seeking construction on the three-hectare tract of the forest.
“By cutting down of trees, clearing the forest and putting up a perimeter wall, or allowing it to happen, the respondents are messing up with the genetic resources and biodiversity of Kibiko Forest and its environs,” the petitioners said through Murithi Kimathi and Karera Advocates.
The residents want the court to compel the government to bring down a concrete perimeter wall built around the hived-off section, restore felled trees and cancel the title deed issued to Mr Tenai.
Kibiko Forest is a public forest in the Ngong/Bulbul area and borders Embakasi Forest.
The residents said the forest has valuable plants and animals with huge benefits to communities living around it. According to the residents, the forest was undisturbed until August 2023, when Mr Tenai allegedly invaded it and cut down trees.
Petition to Parliament
“The purported lease was granted on June 1, 2005, but it’s worth noting that the land has stood all through undisturbed as a forest till August 2023, when the 1st respondent invaded the forest,” the petition states.
The residents said Section 34 of the Forest Conservation and Management Act provides that variation of boundaries or revocation of public forests can only be done through a petition to Parliament.
They accuse the government agencies of aiding or abetting the grabbing of a public forest.
