My wife owns hotel in Karura Forest, forest board chair tells MPs

Kenya Forest Service (KFS) board chairman Peter Kinyua at Parliament on Thursday, March 29, 2018 [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

Kenya Forest Service (KFS) board chairman Peter Kinyua yesterday told MPs that his wife runs a restaurant situated in the middle of Karura Forest.

Mr Kinyua told members of the National Assembly's environment committee that his spouse was the proprietor of The River Café that is frequented by high-end clientele.

“My wife runs The River Café that is inside Karura Forest. She was running it one and a half years before I became chairperson of the KFS board and still does so to date,” Kinyua told members of the committee led by Maara MP Kareke Mbiuki.

This was in response to a question by Charles Were (Kasipul) who asked who the owner of the hotel was.

The admission prompted Hilary Kosgei (Kipkelion West), Charity Chepkwony (Njoro) and Sophia Noor (Ijara) to ask whether this was not a clear case of conflict of interest on Kinyua's part.

The KFS board chairman was among officials who accompanied Environment Cabinet Secretary Keriako Tobiko and Principal Secretary Charles Sunkuli, who had been invited to appear before the committee to give MPs an update on the status of the logging ban.

The team was also asked to shed light on the circumstances under which Chief Conservator of Forests Emilio Mugo was suspended. Career forester Monica Kalenda has been appointed by the board to replace Mr Mugo in an acting capacity.

“I declared the fact that my partner owns the hotel when I was appointed the board chair as required by law,” said Kinyua.

Ms Kalenda, who was part of the team that accompanied the CS, told MPs that the restaurant in Karura Forest was not a threat to the ecosystem.

“It is eco-friendly and no single tree was cut down to set it up. As KFS, we encourage the establishment of such facilities because they help us in forest management. They benefit communities and at the same time assist in the conservation of the environment,” she said.

Yesterday's session saw Mr Tobiko taken to task by the lawmakers over the recent decision to suspend Mugo. The suspension was opposed by several MPs.