Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah has poured cold water on President William Ruto’s pledge to transfer Amboseli National Park to the Kajiado County government, warning that the move is unconstitutional without a full amendment.
Addressing and event over the weekend, he reminded the crowd that Article 62 of Kenya’s Constitution lists national parks as public land held by the national government. “If you go to the Constitution of Kenya, it stipulates that a national park is public property, so if, truly, the president has the intention of transferring the national park to the Maasai people who are preserving the national park, he will need to change the Constitution,” Omtatah said.
The senator added, “Without saying that he will change the constitution, the transfer of the national park is a lie, because it will never happen. The government should instead ensure that the revenue from the park helps people from this area.”
Any alteration touching public land requires Parliament to marshal a two-thirds majority in both Houses under Article 256, then clear a national referendum if the change falls under Article 255. That is the legal mountain State House would have to climb before Kajiado can legally take over the 392-square-kilometre wildlife jewel at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro.
How we got here
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1906 | Maasai Reserve first gazetted |
| 1974 | Area declared Amboseli National Park |
| Aug 2024 | President Ruto orders Tourism ministry to initiate transfer to Kajiado County |
| 14 Nov 2024 | Cabinet approves the handover in principle |
| 21 Jul 2025 | Omtatah warns transfer is impossible without a referendum |
Local leaders, led by Governor Joseph Ole Lenku, argue county control would ensure park earnings trickle down to surrounding Maasai communities. Lenku has pitched a “third-generation park” where wildlife conservation dovetails with community livelihoods.
Yet constitutional lawyers note that public-land status is hard-wired into the 2010 charter. Amendments of that calibre have stalled before – think the ill-fated Building Bridges Initiative – so a swift handover is far from guaranteed.
