Human rights activist Okiya Omtatah has sued the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) for allowing passage of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) through the Nairobi National Park.
In a suit filed at the Environment and Lands Division at the Milimani Law Courts on Tuesday 18th October, Omtatah said the project's trustees failed to do their mandate clearly spelt under the law.
Omtatah notified the court that the passing of the SGR in the Nairobi National Park was a sign that KWS could no longer be trusted with managing the country's wildlife heritage.
He further asked the court to impede the progress of the railway through the park and requested that KWS, Kenya Railways Corporation and the National Land Commission be stopped from proceeding with the plans of the project.
"The trustees of this project acted on their own and did not seek nor invite public participation in the whole process. The trustees do not have the power to make valid legal decisions on their own and hence they cannot be trusted with taking care of the country's wildlife heritage," said Omtatah.
Through his suit, Omtatah went ahead to notify the court that KWS Board Chair Richard Leakey and other members like Nancy Saumu Pete, Brian Heath and Peter Kinyua were all illegally appointed since they did not undergo any recruitment exercise and hence should be removed from office.