The Kenya Forest Service (KFS) has challenged Muthaiga Golf Club’s occupation of part of Karura Forest, saying its records contain no evidence establishing the club’s legal right to occupy the disputed section of the gazetted forest reserve.
The dispute emerged after the golf club informed its members that KFS had taken control of access to part of the Front Nine, covering holes two to nine.
Club chairman Dennis Mwirigi said the forest agency was claiming that the section formed part of Karura Forest.
“KFS is purporting that this section of the course falls within Karura Forest,” Mwirigi said in a notice.
KFS, however, said historical records in its possession raise questions about the legal status of the club’s occupation.
According to KFS, Karura Forest covers approximately 1,044.1 hectares and was gazetted as a forest reserve through Proclamation No. 44 of 1932.
The forest was subsequently declared a Central Forest through Legal Notice No. 174 of May 20, 1964, alongside other state forests gazetted before Kenya’s independence.
The agency said correspondence between the former Forest Department and the Commissioner of Lands documented the surveying and leasing of land on which the then Karura Golf Club was established.
KFS said a plan showing the extent of land leased to the club was issued in 1966, after which construction of the golf course commenced.
The agency added that in 1974, the Chief Conservator of Forests wrote to the club confirming a proposed alteration of the golf course boundary, which would extend the course further north.
The historical documentation is now central to the disagreement, with KFS maintaining that the records do not demonstrate a lawful basis for the club’s continued occupation of the disputed forest land.
KFS said the legal framework governing forests changed following enactment of the Forest Conservation and Management Act, 2007.
The agency said Muthaiga Golf Club was invited to apply for a Forest Special Use Licence but did not comply with the request.
The service said it again invited the club in 2021 for discussions concerning what it described as the illegal occupation of part of Karura Forest Reserve.
During those engagements, according to KFS, club representatives claimed to possess a title deed for the disputed land.
KFS said, however, that its records contained no evidence proving the club’s legal occupation of the forest.
The agency further claimed that the club had historically acknowledged, through correspondence in its possession, that it occupied land within the gazetted forest.
KFS called on the golf club to address the matter through formal engagement and in accordance with the Forest Conservation and Management Act.
The dispute temporarily affected access to part of the golf course, but the club later informed members that the situation had been resolved, at least for the time being.
“We are pleased to confirm that access to the affected part of the closure has been restored and members may proceed with their scheduled activities as usual,” Mwirigi said.
