Former Chief Justice David Maraga has been arrested and detained at Langata Police Station in Nairobi, in a dramatic turn of events that has sent shockwaves across the country.
A video that has since gone viral shows Maraga being bundled into a police vehicle shortly after he joined a protest against the proposed construction of infrastructure within Nairobi National Park.
He was in the company of eight others at the time, all of whom were seen trying to brace themselves against possible police action just outside the park’s entrance. All eight were arrested alongside him.
The situation took another troubling turn when police confiscated equipment belonging to journalists who had arrived to cover the story. Former BBC journalist Ian Wafula confirmed the incident, revealing that a drone belonging to his team had been seized by Kenya Wildlife Service officers while they were documenting evidence of ongoing construction inside the park.
“We found evidence of construction going on inside the Nairobi National Park, but KWS just confiscated our drone. Currently, protests by lobby groups and environmentalists are going on over the construction,” Wafula stated.
At the centre of the controversy is a decision by the Kenya Wildlife Service to clear approximately 76 acres of indigenous upland forest inside Nairobi National Park. The clearing follows a license granted by the National Environment Management Authority approving the conversion of 31 hectares previously classified as a protected Low Use Zone.
The cleared land is set to house a relocated Nairobi Animal Orphanage, complete with modern wildlife hospital facilities and more natural enclosures. An 8-acre parking lot is also planned to serve both the orphanage and the nearby KSh41.9 billion Bomas International Convention Centre. A pedestrian overpass across Lang’ata Road is additionally planned, linking the park’s new conservation space directly to the commercial convention complex.
Critics have not been silent. Conservation groups and environmentalists have pushed back hard, arguing that the clearing threatens fragile ecosystems, violates long-standing park zoning rules, and robs future generations of a natural heritage that cannot be replaced. For many, the sight of a former chief justice being dragged into a police vehicle for standing up for a national park says far more about the state of things than any government statement ever could.
Here is the Video of Maraga’s arrest on Monday.>>>>
https://twitter.com/PloSigei/status/2063910672069476587/video/1
