MPs demand answers over controversial Ngong Forest luxury hotel Project

Members of Parliament have demanded answers over the construction of a luxury hotel inside Ngong Forest, alleging that the company granted approval for the project was favoured because it is owned by well-connected individuals.

The legislators, who plan to visit the site next week, say government officials bypassed environmental concerns and may have ignored objections from key stakeholders.

The National Assembly's Departmental Committee on Environment, Forestry and Mining, chaired by Mwala MP Vincent Musyoka, has outlined six key questions it wants the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry to address concerning the controversial project.

The MPs are seeking clarity on how Konyon Company Ltd was granted a Special Use Licence to build a hotel inside a gazetted forest and want full disclosure of the processes followed by both the Ministry and the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) in approving the project.

“Our forests have been attacked by people who are well-connected. The reason Konyon Company was given the licence, that the area doesn’t have trees, does not arise, because even shrubs are part of the forest,” Kacheliba MP Titus Lotee said.

The committee also wants the Ministry to submit a detailed report showing whether similar developments in other countries have successfully balanced forest use with conservation, and if such examples were used as reference points in this case.

“Do we have success stories in other jurisdictions that we can use as a basis in this case?” Musyoka posed.

The third concern relates to environmental objections raised by various stakeholders, including a report by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA). MPs want both the Ministry and KFS to explain whether these issues were factored into the decision to allow the hotel to proceed.

During a meeting with Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa, Turkana Central MP Joseph Emathe said the Ministry and KFS failed to consider stakeholder input.

“The public raised genuine concerns, but they were pushed aside,” he said.

The fourth issue concerns the special licence fee allegedly paid by Konyon Company Ltd. The MPs noted that similar plans by the Green Belt Movement (GBM) to establish a children’s museum were blocked after the organisation failed to pay this fee, despite earlier receiving board approval from KFS.

Documents presented before the committee show that GBM had in March 2022 applied to KFS to develop a museum with an exhibition pavilion, walkways, picnic areas, a café, and a museum shop. Though the application was approved by the KFS board on March 8, 2022, GBM did not pay the required fees and was therefore unable to proceed.

Later, in November 2024, Konyon Company submitted its own application for a “unique glamping eco-lodge and wellness retreat.” According to the documents, KFS conducted an environmental appraisal and found that the area consisted of grass, scattered bushes, and shrubs, with no trees, endangered species, or cultural/scientific significance. It was also not located within a water catchment or source area.

KFS deemed the proposed construction materials eco-friendly and issued a conditional Special Use Licence on February 12, 2025, following board approval on January 21.

However, the licence came under scrutiny in May 2025, when members of the public, the Green Belt Movement, and other environmental institutions raised objections online, accusing the government of forest encroachment and warning of potential threats to Ngong Forest’s ecosystem.

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Despite this, MPs noted that the Ministry had not provided any proof that Konyon Company paid the fee that disqualified GBM.

“I don’t see any attachment here indicating that Konyon Company paid this fee. It is not in your documents before us. Mr Chairman, can we be shown that the fee was actually paid?” Emathe questioned.

The committee also wants the Ministry to issue a status report on developments in other forests across the country, specifically, the deteriorating state of Karura Forest.

“Why is Karura Forest doing badly? What is happening there?” Musyoka posed.

Further, the legislators questioned why the Ministry is permitting developments in forests when the government has committed to planting 15 billion trees.

“We owe it to the coming generation, the Gen Zs, that we need to conserve our forests. But it is sad that we are now not planting trees; we are building hotels,” Njoro MP Charity Kathambi said.

In defence of the project, Principal Secretary Gitonga Mugambi, who accompanied the Cabinet Secretary, said the hotel was being built in a low vegetation zone to create employment.

“We target the areas without trees because we also need to create jobs for our people,” Mugambi said.