CS Duale Urged To Crack Whip On KFS Leadership

Conservationist and the Green Thinking Action Party (GTAP) of Kenya leader Dr Isaac Kalua Green has called for the immediate overhaul of the leadership at Kenya Forest Services (KFS), claiming they have failed to protect the country’s forests, while getting involved in selling Indigenous trees for profit.

According to Dr Kalua, President William Ruto's calls for the growth of tree cover in the country will remain a mirage when it is officials in his government that are aiding the felling of trees for selfish gains, including the construction of some mega projects in the country

Dr. Kalua, while exposing the rot at KFS has signalled rampant behaviour amongst some officials on the board of the Kenya Forest Service in the wake of reports of excisions of sections of the forest to either build roads or set up golf courses.

The conservationist who has been keen on protecting the country’s forests for over 40 years now, says, there is a looming danger and while the country’s Environment Cabinet Secretary (CS) Aden Duale is acting, he should double his efforts as there are those who are "hiding under a smile while working hard to deplete the country’s forest cover."

Officers outside the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) gate when it was opened in 2011. /PEOPLE DAILY

“I call upon KFS to take responsibility. KFS, just like KWS, has very good people. Why wouldn’t we have rangers that are honorary wardens, that can be able to do that,” he stated on Wednesday, December 18.

“Any attempt to get that going so that the public can get interested in this place never goes anywhere. They must take responsibility because they are the ones that are in there. Root out the wrong people because they are there.”

Consequently, Dr Kalua alluded to powerful individuals linked to powerful families that are keen on making a living off Kenya’s forests, endangering President Ruto's ambitious plan that aims at planting over 15 billion trees by 2032.

Kalua expressed optimism about the Environment CS and called upon him to extend his authority to the KFS board. “I believe that Honourable Duale has got what it takes to bring these people to recommit. Things cannot continue as they have been in the last 40 years,” he added.

He also called for the immediate revocation of all licences to bodies operating in the country’s forests until a fresh review is done to ascertain the operations of the bodies.

He has also called for a revocation of a licence issued to his organization – Green Africa – in 2014, arguing that there have been bottlenecks that have led to his not taking it up since when it was issued.

He averred that he has repeatedly called for the revocation, noting that the KFS has only been keen to ask for licence payments and not clear the problem that has been there. Additionally, he quipped that the KFS has been hiding under licences to issue people with unwarranted behaviour access to Kenya’s forests

Kalua has singled out the export of sandalwood, which is a rich tree with multiple benefits under a different code. He further exposed ways that the tree smugglers were using to evade detection including using closed trucks instead of open ones while people with authority at the KFS looked the other way.

“Big names that you would be ashamed to know that they did this, not just now, but has been happening over the years. Some constituencies are inside the forests," he went on.

On Tuesday, December 17, Duale directed that National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) Director General Mamo Boru Mamo and Chief Conservator of Forests Alex Lemarkoko suspend licences issued to a private developer for the construction of a leisure and entertainment joint within Ngong Forest. NEMA would act on his directive shortly after.

Nestled within the serene forest, Ngong Road Forest Section 1, a construction site was mapped for a proposed restaurant and golf club. Per an investigation report dated December 17, 2024, by NEMA, the project was under Karura Golf Range Limited, with the project representative listed as Amos Ngeno.

Days ago, a public outcry erupted over the Kenya Forest Service's approval of a 51.64-acre wayleave in Karura Forest, granted to the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) for the expansion of Kiambu Road. The decision was made following the 61st Board of Directors meeting on March 26, 2024, and KFS invited KeNHA to engage in the issuance of a special-use license to facilitate the project within the forest.