Kenya: Stop the Presbyterian Church of East Africa from destroying Kibagare wetland

Tuesday July 8, 2014

FROM: FRIENDS OF KARURA FOREST, COALITION FOR CONSTITUTION IMPLEMENTATION, ACTIVISTS AND MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC IN NAIROBI

TO: THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES AND THE WORLD COMMUNION OF REFORMED CHURCHES

For years, renowned Kenyan environmental activist and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner, the late Professor Wangari Maathai, fought to protect over 10 acres of wetland in the heart of Nairobi.

Kibagare wetland is an ecological haven for numerous tree, plant and bird species, as well as a source of income for an estimated 300 plant and pot sellers and other people who have been working in the area for over 15 years. It was allocated to the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) by the Kenyan government in compensation for land the church had lost elsewhere.

Three years after Professor Maathai's death, the PCEA, a member of both the World Council of Churches and of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, has begun to develop luxury apartments on top of the wetland. This is in contravention of findings by the National Environmental Management Authority that no construction should occur on a wetland, and in contravention of a consultation in 2010 which found that members of the public were fiercely against the development of the wetland. On June 25, 2014, Dr Swazuri, the National Lands Commissioner, called on the PCEA to suspend its activities, but to date, the construction has continued unabated and illegally.

A 2001 Environmental Impact Assessment by a geographer from the University of Nairobi stated that "any conversion of the riparian environment to a built-up state could be accompanied by a wide range of serious environmental impacts," some of which include loss of biodiversity and "critical habitats for waterbirds," increased "risk of flooding in downtown slum areas such as Mathare which are characterized by huge populations," and "poverty escalation through loss of livelihoods of over 300 persons who presently depend on the tree/plant nursery whose operations are actually enhancing environmental quality in the city and beyond."

The Presbyterian Church of East Africa as well as the World Council of Churches have in the past paid tribute to the late Professor Maathai for challenging "Kenyan churches as well as communities of faith elsewhere in the world to care for creation and to work together for environmental justice and those things which make for peace."

If the PCEA truly believes that God's creation should be protected, they should be protecting, not destroying, Kibagare wetland and the livelihoods of the people who depend on it.

It would be an insult and an injustice to the memory of Professor Maathai and to what she stood for to allow this project to go forward.

We call on the World Council of Churches and the World Communion of Reformed Churches to:

Publicly denounce the PCEA's project to build luxury apartments on Kibagare wetland,
To urge the Right Reverend David Gathanju, Head of the PCEA, Secretary General of the PCEA, Festus Gitonga and Deputy Secretary General Reverend of the PCEA, Thegu Mutahi, to immediately stop the development until a review of the lease under Article 68 (c) (v) of the Kenyan constitution is undertaken, and
To take serious action against the PCEA should they continue with construction.

We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Prof Karanja Njoroge - Chair Friends of Karura Forest

Zahra Moloo - Journalist/filmmaker/Resident of Lower Kabete

Cidi Otieno - ConvenerCoalition for Constitution Implementation

CC:

Director of Public Prosecution