A businessman has filed a case in court challenging the decision to ban in logging and timber harvesting in public forests saying that it is unreasonable, discriminatory and made in bad faith.
In a petition, Daniel Kariuki Muthee says that on the 25th of February Kenya Forest Service denied him permit to transport 26 tons of Blue Gum Timbers from Elgeyo to Mombasa having lawfully bought the said timber from Toropket Sawmill on the 23rd day of February 2018.
He adds that the Kenya Forest Service in accordance to the temporary ban on logging issued on 24th February 2018 by the Government, denied him permit to transport the timber despite him
He says that he has used 650,000 shillings and denying him the transport permit will lead to a total loss since the timber will lose their market and value.
According to the court documents the applicant says that under section 8(c) of the Forest Conservation and Management Act, KFS has the mandate to receive and consider application for permits in relation to forest resources. He says that he followed all the requirement in his application for permit yet he was denied.
“The applicant has a legitimate and rightful expectation that the Forest Conservation and Management Act should be applied uniformly and with due regard to equality of treatment “reads the court documents.
In February this year the government with immediate effect imposed a moratorium on timber harvesting in all public and community forests for a period of 90 days to allow reassessment and rationalization of the entire forest sector in Kenya.
Hearing to proceed 5 of April for further directions.
