NAIROBI, Kenya – The High Court has suspended public participation on the proposed Meru State Lodge, airstrip and golf course project pending the hearing of a petition challenging the planned developments in Imenti Forest.
Justice Oguttu Mboya issued an interim conservatory order after certifying the application as urgent, effectively stopping the public participation exercise until the court determines the matter.
In his ruling, the judge noted that there are already existing court orders barring the commencement of the disputed project and said the actions complained of could not be allowed to proceed while those orders remain in force.
The court directed the petitioners to serve the application on all respondents within two days. The respondents were granted seven days from the date of service to file and serve their responses.
The case will be mentioned on July 21, 2026, for further directions, with the interim orders suspending public participation remaining in force until then.
The latest orders stem from a petition filed in June seeking to stop any planned developments within Imenti Forest over concerns that sections of the protected forest could be allocated for major infrastructure projects, including a State Lodge, an airstrip and a golf course.
In the case before the Environment and Land Court, petitioner Francis Awino is seeking conservatory orders restraining government agencies and other parties from excising, allocating, licensing, surveying, clearing, fencing or constructing on any part of Imenti Forest until the petition is heard and determined.
According to the petition, recent reports and public statements suggesting that parts of the forest could be earmarked for large-scale developments pose a serious threat to the ecological integrity of the protected ecosystem.
The petition argues that allowing such projects to proceed before the court determines the legality of the proposed developments could expose the forest to irreversible environmental damage.