NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 14 – The Environment and Land Court has ruled that only 0.1233 hectares of Karura Forest can be used for the expansion of Kiambu Road, rejecting the earlier approval for 51.64 acres licensed to the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) by the Kenya Forest Service (KFS).
The court also revoked two special user licenses issued by KFS in the forest, citing lack of public participation.
The decision follows a petition filed last year by the Green Belt Movement to stop the government’s plan to annex the 51.64 acres for road expansion.
The NGO, co-founded by Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai, had argued that a private entity intended to use the land for the road’s dualing without the requisite Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approvals from KFS or the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA).
The petitioner said the approvals for road construction, as well as a planned recreational facility and ablution block, failed to meet legal requirements.
KFS, however, maintained that the road expansion falls within an existing wayleave gazetted in 1951, which has been part of Karura Forest since before independence.
It added that no large-scale allocation was planned except for a 2.2-hectare (5.4-acre) interchange.
