The Kenya Forest Service (KFS) has taken control of part of the Muthaiga Golf Club course, citing an alleged illegal occupation of land falling within the Karura Forest Reserve.
In a statement dated September 15, 2026, KFS said it had taken the position that a section of the golf course occupies land gazetted as a forest reserve and called on the club to engage formally with the agency to resolve the matter.
The development has affected the club’s Front Nine, with Muthaiga Golf Club informing its members that holes No. 2 through No. 9 would remain inaccessible until further notice.
According to the club’s internal memo, KFS had “invaded the course and taken over access to the Front Nine,” claiming that the affected section falls within Karura Forest.
“The Front Nine (Holes No. 2-9) is NOT available or accessible for members’ use until further notice,” the club said, adding that its board was working to resolve the dispute urgently.
The club noted that its driving range and parking facilities had not been affected.
KFS, however, disputed the club’s account of the ownership and occupation of the land.
The forest agency said Karura Forest covers approximately 1,044.1 hectares and was initially gazetted as a forest reserve through Proclamation No. 44 of 1932. It was later declared a Central Forest through Legal Notice No. 174 of May 20, 1964.
KFS said historical correspondence between the then Forest Department and the Commissioner of Lands documented the surveying and leasing of land to the golf club.
According to the agency, a plan outlining the extent of the land leased to the then Karura Golf Club was issued in 1966, after which construction of the course began. KFS further said that in 1974, the Chief Conservator of Forests wrote to the club confirming a proposed alteration of the golf course boundary that would allow the course to extend further north.
Kenya Forest Service, Muthaiga Golf Club dispute
The dispute has resurfaced decades later following the enactment of the Forest Conservation and Management Act, 2007.
KFS said the club was invited to apply for a Forest Special Use Licence after the law came into force, but the request was not pursued to completion.
The agency said the club was again invited in 2021 for discussions concerning what it described as the illegal occupation of part of the Karura Forest Reserve. During those discussions, KFS said, representatives of the golf club claimed to possess a title deed for the disputed property.
KFS maintains that it has found no documentary evidence demonstrating that the club legally occupies the disputed section of the forest.
“There is no evidence of record to the effect proving legal occupation of the forest by the Club,” the agency said.
The forest service further argued that the club’s historical correspondence acknowledging its occupation of gazetted forest land was significant in assessing the current ownership dispute.
KFS said the recent claim of ownership could potentially amount to the grabbing of public land by a private interest, a characterization that remains the agency’s position rather than an established legal finding.
The agency has urged Muthaiga Golf Club to address the matter through formal engagement with KFS in accordance with the Forest Conservation and Management Act.
Meanwhile, the club has told its members that efforts are underway to resolve the dispute and apologised for the disruption caused by the closure of the affected holes.
The dispute places a decades-old golf facility at the centre of a wider question over the status and use of land within the Karura Forest Reserve, with access to eight holes currently suspended pending further developments.
