The National Assembly Departmental Committee on Environment, Forestry and Mining is considering a proposal to de-gazette occupied portions of Kipkabus Forest in Elgeyo Marakwet County to pave the way for surveying, adjudication and issuance of title deeds to bona fide residents.
The proposal seeks to regularise settled areas while preserving the remaining sections of the forest for conservation.
The Committee considered the matter during a session chaired by its Vice Chairperson and Baringo South MP Charles Kamuren, following a legal briefing on a petition submitted to the National Assembly by the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry.
The petition concerns the regularisation of various claims involving public forest land, including settlements within Kipkabus Forest.
Kamuren said the Ministry had informed the Committee that the process followed a Presidential directive issued in July 2025 concerning the processing and issuance of title deeds to residents who had been resettled in Kipkabus Forest.
“The Petitioner states that the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry received a Presidential Directive dated 17th July, 2025 on processing and issuance of Title Deeds for Resettled Residents of Kipkabus Forest, Elgeyo Marakwet County,” Kamuren said.
According to the Principal Secretary, parts of the forest have diminished over the years through informal excisions, land exchanges and encroachment.
The Ministry has consequently proposed regularising settled areas through the established legal process while protecting the remaining forest from further degradation.
Documents presented to the Committee indicate that Kipkabus Forest covers approximately 10,420.1 hectares.
The MPs have since developed a work plan to guide their consideration of the proposal.
A meeting with the Principal Secretary is expected to be among the Committee’s first activities as MPs seek further clarification on the history of the forest, the extent of settlement and the proposed regularisation process.
The Committee will thereafter undertake further public engagements and inspection visits to the forest to establish the extent of the reported encroachment and assess the condition of the affected areas.
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