The Kenya Forest Service has dismissed a petition making rounds online seeking to, among other things, revoke the mandatory use of the eCitizen platform for gate collection and to allow the Community Forest Association to regain control of the forest.
According to the statement issued on 13 September, KFS stated that the petition claimed KFS's control had made things worse in the historic forest.
"The petition is urging the public to push for a return to the previous system, whereby the Community Forest Association was collecting all revenue and utilising it to fund management of the forest," the statement read in part.
"The petition further alleges there is a danger of Karura forest becoming an insecure area, and there are chances of grabbing and encroachment. This is completely false, and the Service wishes to reassure the public as follows."
KFS further clarified that the changes, especially the change in the payment of entry fees, which will now be made through eCitizen, were all in line with a government directive.
"Gazette Notice No 16008 of 2022 directs all national government revenues received by national government entities to be collected into the eCitizen platform," the statement read.
It further clarified that, besides the collection of the fees, all other aspects of joint co-management of Karura Forest remain the same.
On concerns of security in the area, KFS clarified that due to the existence of an electric fence and continuous patrols by Forest Rangers and Community scouts, Kenyans were assured that the security would remain intact.
It further reiterated that Karura CFA employees would keep their jobs despite widespread assertions that there would be job losses, terming these rumours as "false and misleading".
KFS further noted that CFA management had warned these employees to boycott work, with only a handful reporting back to their normal duties despite this assurance.
"The narrative that is being used by the CFA to keep reminding the public of how insecure Karura forest was in the past is misleading because there is no possibility of reversing gains made over the years," KFS stated.
"This is because of the law that now governs the management of forests in Kenya, which was not the case prior to 2007, when forests were managed by the Forest Department through the Forest Act (Cap 385). In the past three decades, Kenya has witnessed Forest Sector Reforms, which have secured all forest blocks for posterity."
