Overview
- Police moved in to disperse a demonstration against a plan to allocate 76 acres from Nairobi National Park and detained several protesters, including former Chief Justice David Maraga.
- Maraga said he was arrested while heading to present a petition to the Kenya Wildlife Service and was later released after the sit-in outside the park gate.
- Conservation groups and civil society called the protest peaceful and condemned the arrests, demanding an immediate suspension of any decision to alter the park's boundaries.
- The Kenya Wildlife Service has defended construction linked to the site as an expansion of an orphanage and visitor facilities, creating a direct dispute between officials and activists over intent and process.
- Environmentalists warn that cutting park land would fragment wildlife corridors, harm biodiversity and tourism, and could prompt legal challenges and wider public protests if the proposal proceeds.