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Kenya Forest denies plans for mass firing after Karura Forest takeover
13th September, 2025 10:57 PM
The Kenya Forest Service (KFS) has denied reports of mass firing at Karura Forest following its recent takeover of the operations.
In a lengthy statement on Saturday, September 13, 2025, Kenya Forest refuted the claims while responding to an online petition seeking to reverse the operations.
According to the state corporation, the online petition is urging the public to push for a return to the previous system, whereby the Community Forest Association was collecting all revenue and utilising it to fund management of the forest.
KFS indicated that the employment status of the Community Forest Association (CFA) was one of the contentious issues. However, KFS insisted that there is no plan to terminate their contracts.
“The Karura CFA employees will continue with their normal duties, and the notion that there will be job losses is false and misleading, and none of these employees have received any communication to terminate their services,” the statement read in part.
Also watch: Friends of Karura forest denounce reports of deforestation in parts of the forest
eCitizen
Kenya Forest also defended the decision to move the revenue collection to the eCitizen platform. KFS maintained that the move was informed by a government directive to channel all revenue through the platform.
“The decision to move revenue collection to the e-Citizen platform is informed by a Government directive. Gazette Notice No 16008 of 2022 directs all national government revenues received by national government entities be collected into the E-Citizen platform,” KFS explained.
“Apart from changing the mode of revenue collection, all other aspects of joint co-management of Karura forest remain the same. The Forest Conservation and Management Act, 2016 requires the Service to work with forest adjacent communities to co-manage all gazetted forests,” it added.
Security of visitors
At the same time, KFS moved to debunk claims that the security of visitors at Karura Forest was not guaranteed following its takeover. KFS assured visitors of their security while visiting Karura Forest.
“Security of Karura forest is assured due to the existence of an electric fence and continous patrols by Forest Rangers and Community scouts. This will not change.”
Boycott of duty
KFS decried over what they termed as the downing of tools by the CFA staff.
“The narrative that is being used by the CFA to keep reminding the public of how insecure Karura forest was in the past is misleading because there is no possibility of reversing gains made over the years. This is because of the law that now governs management of forests in Kenya, which was not the case prior to 2007, when forests were managed by the Forest Department through Forest Act (Cap 385). In the past three decades, Kenya has witnessed Forest Sector Reforms, which have secured all forest blocks for posterity,” the state corporation detailed.
Extending an olive branch
KFS appeared to extend an olive branch to the Community Forest Association, insisting that participatory plans have proved to be successful in the conservation, protection and management of all 179 forest blocks countrywide.
“FAs benefit from various user rights such as bee -keeping, eco tourism, collection of medicinal herbs and fuelwood, among other benefits. As per the PFMP of Karura forest, CFA members will continue to access agreed upon user rights.”
“Kenya Forest Service is committed to upholding high standards and to providing professional services within Karura forests to ensure it remains a premier urban green space.”
