The Environment and Land Court in Nairobi barred the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) from managing or interfering with the operations of City Park pending the hearing of a petition challenging its management.
In temporary orders issued on Tuesday, Lady Justice Murigi Theresa restrained KFS from “trespassing into, managing, remaining in, entering, controlling, charging fees or in any other manner interfering with the Nairobi City County’s management and operation of City Park.”
The matter will be mentioned on October 22, 2025 for directions on the hearing of the main petition filed by city lawyer Charles Mugane.
Mugane, through his firm Mugane Law LLP, moved to court under a certificate of urgency accusing KFS of unlawfully taking over the park that has historically been under the Nairobi City County Government.
He claimed that KFS officers had deployed forest rangers to the park, taken control of revenue collection, and subjected traders and visitors to intimidation and harassment.
In the court documents, the lawyer said the move was done “clandestinely and unprocedurally” during the period when the defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) temporarily assumed some county functions in 2019.
He told the court that the rangers are collecting money from restaurants and casual traders within the park without accountability, terming it a violation of public finance laws.
“The situation is so bad that KFS staff are using intimidation, force, and violence in taking over almost every aspect of the park,” the petition reads in part.
Mugane accused the Nairobi City County Government of maintaining a “deafening silence” over the alleged violations, warning that continued mismanagement would erode the park’s public value and deny future generations access to a vital green space.
He further argued that fencing off the park under the guise of forest conservation without proper consultation “risks restricting public access and alienating the park from citizens it serves”.
“This is being done with blatant disregard of the Constitution and the principles of public finance as stipulated under the Public Finance Management Act since KFS is a corporate body established under the Forest Conservation and Management Act cap 385 laws of Kenya, under the Act the KFS is responsible for the conservation and management of forests,” said Mugane.
Mugane has sued the Kenya Forest service (KFS), Nairobi City County Government and the Attorney General, while NEMA, the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee, the Green Belt Movement, the Wangari Maathai Institute of Peace and Environmental Studies, the Environmental Institute of Kenya, and Nature Kenya have been listed as interested parties.
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