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Mystery Ngong Forest hotel: PS skips MPs’ questioning, again
Construction site of a luxury camping facility hotel in Ngong Road Forest, Nairobi, pictured on May 27, 2025.
For the fourth time, Principal Secretary for the State Department for Forestry, Gitonga Mugambi, failed to appear before a parliamentary committee to shed light on the ongoing construction of a hotel in Ngong Forest.
Mr Mugambi was expected to appear before the National Assembly Committee on Environment, Forestry and Mining to disclose, among other details, the identity of the faceless private developer constructing the hotel in the forest despite public outcry.
The PS was also scheduled to brief the committee on how the individual acquired forest land, which is a public resource.
Construction site of a luxury camping facility hotel in Ngong Road Forest, Nairobi, pictured on May 27, 2025.
The committee, chaired by Vincent Musyoka, also wanted to know whether public participation was conducted before the developer was allowed to commence construction deep inside the forest.
Additionally, Mr Mugambi was expected to provide the committee with documentation approving the construction of the hotel, reveal who granted the approvals, and confirm whether all procedures were conducted in accordance with the law.
The committee is also seeking answers on whether an environmental impact assessment was conducted by the relevant government regulatory bodies before construction began.
However, for the fourth time, these answers were not forthcoming, as Mr Mugambi was once again a no-show.
The PS wrote to the committee, informing them he would not be available due to an ongoing retreat for Cabinet Secretaries.
The committee has now granted him one final opportunity to appear before it next week.
Construction site of a luxury camping facility hotel in Ngong Road Forest, Nairobi, pictured on May 27, 2025.
Last week, the PS also failed to appear, with Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, Deborah Mulongo, informing lawmakers through a letter to the Clerk of the National Assembly that the PS was out of the country.
“I wish to inform you that the Principal Secretary, State Department for Forestry, will not be available for the meeting as he is out of the country from June 1 to June 11, 2025. Due to the importance of this engagement, we propose that the committee consider postponing the meeting with the ministry to the following week, preferably June 18, 2025,” read the letter.
The committee’s vice chairperson, Baringo South MP Charles Kamuren, last week vowed that the committee would not relent in its pursuit of the truth regarding the controversial hotel project.
“This is the third time the ministry has failed to appear before us. The other time, we waited for them in Mombasa, and they did not show up. We want to warn both the CS and PS that nobody is above the law, and Kenyans deserve to know the truth,” Mr Kamuren said.
Construction site of a luxury camping facility hotel in Ngong Road Forest, Nairobi, pictured on May 27, 2025.
The committee last week called for an immediate halt to the construction of the hotel until all necessary documentation and approvals are submitted.
The construction of the luxury hotel reportedly began without approvals from the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA).
Beyond the lawmakers, environmentalists have also sounded the alarm over how a private developer was allowed to build a hotel deep within a protected forest.
