The Kenya Forest Service (KFS) has moved to reassure Kenyans following an online petition seeking the reversal of a directive requiring Karura Forest entry fees to be paid through the eCitizen platform.
The petition by the Friends of Karura Forest (FKF) wants the public to push for a return to the previous system, where the community forest association was collecting all revenue and utilizing it to fund management of the forest.
It also alleges that the Karura Forest is becoming insecure and that there are chances of grabbing and encroachment.
KFS dismissed the claims in the online petition by FKF, terming them as false and misleading.
The service clarified that the decision to use the eCitizen platform for all payments in the forest is in line with a government directive requiring all state agencies to use the platform.
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“The decision to move revenue collection to the e-Citizen platform is informed by a Government directive. Gazette Notice No 16008 of 2022 directs that all national government revenues received by national government entities be collected into the E-Citizen platform,” read the statement in part.
KFS noted that apart from changing the mode of revenue collection, all other aspects of joint co-management of Karura forest remain the same.
The service also dismissed claims that the Karura Forest could become unsafe for visitors.
“Security of Karura forest is assured due to the existence of an electric fence and continuous patrols by Forest Rangers and Community scouts. This will not change,” said KFS.
Further, it said the Karura CFA employees will continue with their normal duties, and the notion that there will be job losses is false and misleading.
The service noted that CFA management had warned the Karura Forest employees to boycott work, with only a handful reporting back to their normal duties.
“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 added.
KFS and FKF have been at loggerheads since KFS shifted all fee payments for Karura Forest to the eCitizen platform.
On September 1, FKF board member Karanja Njoroge said the association will move to court to challenge the changes in fee payments.
Njoroge claimed that the association was not consulted before KFS decided to introduce the new payment system.
He argued that the KFS takeover of the forest has threatened the jobs of FKS staff who have been working in the forest.
“We have signed agreements, and we will go to court. The only place you can run when you are under attack is the judicial system, which looks at the situation, the investments we have made, our blood, work, sweat, and money.
“People greedy enough come and not just take what we have arranged for the community pay, but also increase; it's painful, any fair person can see the pain with this attitude of a government office,” said Njoroge.
