Paul Muite vows to stand firm in defending Karura Forest after recent wrangles
Veteran lawyer and Senior Counsel Paul Muite has spoken out passionately against renewed threats to Karura Forest, warning that encroachment efforts echo a dark chapter in Kenya’s environmental history.
This follows a unilateral move by the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) to take over entry fee collection and forest management.
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“We’re committed to the preservation of Karura Forest. I was with the late Prof. Wangari Maathai to stop the then-grabbing. We burnt the bulldozers,” the X statement read on Monday, September 1, 2025.
In a chilling recollection of the risks he faced, an ominous moment underscores the high personal cost of defending public land.
“Following the 1991 November Kamukunji, I was driven around Karura Forest in the middle of the night with the police saying, tumalizie yeye hapa,” the post read in part.
His remarks follow an alarm raised by the Friends of Karura Forest (FKF) Community Forest Association, who described current developments as a threat to the future of Karura Forest.
FKF, in a statement on Monday, September 1, 2025, expressed deep concern over the Kenya Forest Service’s decision, announced on August 29, 2025, to assume full control of the forest’s revenue collection via the government’s E-Citizen platform.
The announcement also included an abrupt order for all FKF staff, including security personnel and scouts, to vacate the forest by 1 pm the same day.
Karanja Njoroge, past chair of FKF and a board member, termed the future of Karura Forest as uncertain.
“We are growing increasingly concerned about what will happen to Karura going forward, as there is no clear path for how it is being managed”, Njoroge said.
“We are also shocked by the entrance fee increase, which could stop Kenyans from enjoying one of the largest urban forests in the world.”
The new E-Citizen system has increased the entrance fee for adults from Ksh100 to Ksh174 due to a Ksh50 platform fee and 16 per cent VAT.
Fees for children more than doubled, rising from Ksh50 to Ksh116.
The association said the sharp increase has already deterred visitors, with weekend numbers falling drastically.
FKF also raised concern about the fate of 122 scouts and over 400 community support staff who have been sustaining their livelihoods through the forest’s revenue under the Joint Management Agreement.
“These staff were responsible for maintaining infrastructure, providing security, managing biodiversity, and facilitating community involvement,” FKF said in the statement.
“We need to urgently get Friends of Karura in again to jointly manage the forest day-to-day operations and work with local communities,” Njoroge said.
The group noted that all management funds were handled transparently under the agreement, with implementation contracts legally binding FKF to forest operations.
