Parliament has opened a formal inquiry into claims that private investors have carved out roughly 47,000 acres inside the world-famous Maasai Mara Game Reserve. The land in question lies in the Olkiombo area of Narok County, directly astride the wildebeest migration route that draws thousands of tourists each year.
Conservationists and local families warn the takeover could upend wildlife movements and wipe out livelihoods tied to tourism, grazing and cultural heritage.
Yesterday, representatives of the Olkiombo-Maasai Mara Conservancy laid out their case before the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Lands. Gabriel Tongoyo, the MP from Narok West who was accompanying them, said the alleged alienation “posed a threat to the natural habitat and thousands of livelihoods”.
Committee chair Joash Nyamoko promised a full investigation, including summoning officials from the Ministry of Lands and organising an on-site visit.
The petition, filed by community member Anthony Leseiyo, argues the acreage was grabbed illegally.
Residents fear the dispute could set a precedent for further attempts to privatise protected land, undermining conservation and Kenya’s tourism earnings. Separate lodge dispute in a related development, a planned luxury safari lodge backed by a US investor has been stopped in its tracks.
On August 13, conservationist Meitamei Olol Dapash, director of the Institute for Maasai Education, Research and Conservation, obtained a court order blocking the facility’s opening, which had been slated for August 15. Court papers say the high-end lodge, where rooms were to start at about KSh451,000 (US$3,500) per night, would threaten wildlife corridors and riverine ecosystems. The operator has not publicly responded to the petition.
The Lands Committee is expected to table an initial report once it concludes witness hearings and the site inspection.
