An aerial view of Ngong Forest as seen along Karen road.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) is closing in on powerful individuals and companies alleged to have grabbed 53.68 hectares of Ngong Forest land and sold it to unsuspecting buyers.
Appearing before the National Assembly’s Committee on Implementation, the DCI said it had identified several individuals and 23 companies believed to have illegally acquired the forest land.
The agency told MPs it will conclude its final report within two months before tabling the findings in Parliament.
George Kisaka, the deputy head of the Investigations Bureau, appeared before the committee to provide a status report on the grabbing of forest land in Lang’ata constituency.
The DCI is probing the excision of 53.68 hectares where Sunvalley I, II, & III Estates and Royal Park Estate are built.
It is also investigating 34 acres of Ngong Forest where KMA Estate, Lang’ata Gardens Estate, Lang’ata View Estate, Shalom Estate, St Mary’s Hospital, and Forest Edge/View Estates are located.
Construction site of a luxury camping facility hotel in Ngong Road Forest, Nairobi, pictured on May 27, 2025.
According to Mr Kisaka, preliminary investigations show that the land was not degazetted in line with Section 4 of the repealed Forest Act, Cap 385 of 1942.
He added that the DCI has faced challenges due to missing records at the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning regarding the excision of the 34 acres.
Tracing former government officials, including the Chief Conservator of Forests, Commissioners of Lands, and Commissioners of Prisons who served between 1985 and 1998, has also proved difficult.
“What remains is to trace and record statements from former Commissioners of Lands, Chief Conservator of Forests, Commissioners of Prisons (specifically 1985 to 1998), and other persons or companies of interest,” Mr Kisaka told MPs.
He asked the State Department for Lands to expedite retrieval of documents related to the disputed excision.
Mr Kisaka said the 34 acres were originally earmarked for the expansion of Lang’ata Women’s Prison. However, the land was never used for that purpose and was instead “illegally and fraudulently allocated” to third parties.
The parcel has since been fully developed by individuals who may have acquired the properties in good faith.
He told MPs that, according to the Chief Conservator of Forests, a title grant (No IR 70244) was issued in 1996 to the Permanent Secretary, Treasury, to hold in trust for the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, covering 988.82 hectares.
In 1999, the title deed was surrendered, and a leasehold title (IR 811938) for 538.4 hectares was issued to the Treasury in trust for the Ngong Forest Sanctuary.
The Conservator confirmed that land reserved for Lang’ata Women’s Prison was irregularly allocated to Arladyks Investment Limited, Prescot Company Limited, and Onesmus Kimani Ngunjiri.
These allottees later subdivided, sold, and transferred parcels to third parties, many of whom have since built residential estates.
Mr Kisaka further disclosed that the National Treasury, in a letter dated July 10, 2025, confirmed it does not have custody of the title documents relating to grant 81938.
He asked MPs to grant investigators two months to conclude the probe, record statements from 23 companies and several individuals, and initiate arrests and prosecutions.
The Committee on Implementation, chaired by Budalang’i MP Raphael Wanjala, is following up on recommendations of the Environment and Natural Resources Committee, which directed the DCI to charge individuals behind the irregular excision.
Budalangi MP and chairperson of the Committee on Implementation, Raphael Wanjala.
Parliament has previously stopped government plans to demolish homes built on land allegedly hived off Ngong Forest. However, the House concluded that the law was not followed in the 34-acre excision, where KMA Estate, Lang’ata Gardens Estate, Lang’ata View Estate, Shalom Estate, St Mary’s Hospital, and Forest Edge/View Estates stand.
The Environment Committee further recommended that the government regularise excisions for land already occupied by public and private institutions—including KMA Estate, Lang’ata Gardens, Lang’ata View, Shalom Estate, St Mary’s Hospital, Lang’ata Women’s Prison, the Police Dog Unit, Bomas of Kenya, Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, Wildlife Clubs of Kenya, and the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE).
