Activist files petition to sack KWS team

A petition to remove Kenya Wildlife Service board of trustees from office has been filed at the High Court.PHOTO: COURTESY

A petition to remove Kenya Wildlife Service board of trustees from office has been filed at the High Court.

Human rights activist Okiya Omtatah filed the petition yesterday, claiming the trustees can no longer be trusted to be custodians of Kenya's wildlife heritage.

He says their decision to allow the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) to be routed through the Nairobi National Park was a sign of failure.

"In deciding to act on their own in total secrecy and not to seek the involvement and assistance or advice from experts and other stakeholders, the trustees lacked the power to make legally valid decisions on the matter," says Omtatah.

CONSCIOUS FAILURE

In a suit filed at the Environment and Land division at the Milimani Law Courts, Omtatah claims the trustees intentionally failed to do their duty under the law.

The activist also wants the court to issue temporary orders prohibiting KWS, Kenya Railways Corporation and the National Land Commission from allowing SGR to pass through the park.

Omtatah also adds that Richard Leakey, who is the chairman of the board of KWS and independent members of the board of trustees Tom Lalampaa, Nancy Saumu Pete, Brian Heath and Peter Kinyua were irregularly and illegally appointed into public office.

The petition says the trustees were not subjected to a competitive recruitment process as required by the Constitution.