Residents of Elgeyo Marakwet County have voiced strong opposition to a government proposal to allow private investors to lease public forests through a concession plan.

During a community forum convened by the Community Forest Association (CFA) for Elgeyo Forest Station, local leaders, residents and stakeholders expressed outrage over the lack of public participation and the potential loss of community forest access.

Speaking during the meeting held ahead of a scheduled North Rift regional public participation forum in Eldoret, Kapchemutwa Ward MCA Stephen Cheruiyot led the community in denouncing the proposed forest concession regulation, part of a larger set of eight-point draft regulations.

“Today, we have met as users and community members through the CFA for Elgeyo Forest,” said Cheruiyot. “We are here to gather the views of our people ahead of the Eldoret forum and the people have made it clear, they are saying no to forest concession.”

“If this concession plan goes through,” he explained, “a private person will come and run the forest, essentially replacing Kenya Forest Service (KFS) as the authority. That means our people will lose their user rights, rights to graze, collect herbs, keep bees and collect firewood. Even walking through the forest will be considered trespassing. Fencing will be introduced and access will be lost.”

He criticised the national government for failing to involve the public in the early stages of drafting the regulations.

“Instead of formulating these proposals in Nairobi and then bringing them to local people to endorse or reject, they should have consulted us from the beginning. Maybe then they’d have a draft we could agree on,” said Cheruiyot.

Cheruiyot emphasised that the community is not opposed to sustainable forest management but it is against exclusion and privatisation. “If the government feels overwhelmed, let them leave the forest to the CFA and the local community. We know how to care of our forests,” he said.

He further stated that the County Assembly will file a petition to the National Assembly and Senate to push for an amendment to the Forest Act. “We want the law to mirror the Mining Act of 2016, where communities benefit directly. We propose 20 per cent of proceeds to go to the county government and 10 per cent to the local community.”

Emsoo Ward MCA, Christopher Cheboiboch echoed the sentiments, stating, “We will not be party to the eight proposals. We were not consulted during drafting, so how can we support them? They should come to us, not ask us to go to Eldoret. Let them come to where the people are.”

County Executive Committee Member for Lands, Physical Planning, and Urban Development, Thomas Maiyo, noted that the main concern among residents was the concession clause allowing leasing for a minimum of 30 years. The residents feel side-lined and say they should have been involved right from the drafting stage.

Dr Thomas Chepkiyeng, chair of the Elgeyo Forest Station CFA and a member of the County CFA network, declared the regulations invalid.

Chepkiyeng pointed out, “One, we were not consulted. Two, every forest station must be heard individually. These regional forums are not enough. We reject the proposals in totality unless the ministry comes down to our level.”

He also called for better representation of CFAs, saying, “KFS has never given CFA members representation on their board. We are demanding a seat at the table so that our views are heard.”

Christopher Chebii, Secretary of the Elgeyo Marakwet Saw Millers Association and a resident of Kapchemutwa, warned that the concession plan threatens local livelihoods.

“As saw millers, we say no to this plan. It will edge us out of business. We employ many youths, what happens to them? If this passes, multinational companies will take huge chunks of the forest. Our businesses will collapse. Let things remain as they are. The government should shelve the concession plan,” Chebii protested.

As the region prepares for the Thursday forum in Eldoret, the message from Elgeyo Marakwet residents is loud and clear: they demand a halt to the forest concession plan and insist on meaningful public participation and community inclusion in forest governance.

• A Tell Media / KNA report / By Rennish Okong’o