The government has barred Kinale Community Forest Association from signing Forest Management Agreement plans after differences emerged.
Kenya Forest Service deputy chief conservator Beatrice Mbula said she will sign the FMA with the community after they have resolved their differences.
She warned them that the government will withdraw the FMA if the disputes between the members and the leaders are not resolved.
“If there are disputes, then the government cannot achieve it objective from these agreements. They need to be withdrawn” Mbula said.
FMA is an agreement KFS signs with communities to allow them to farm in the forest while taking care of them.
She spoke on Thursday at Kinale forest where she presided over the signing of FMAs and PFMPs with communities in Kiambu.
Kereita, Ragia, Kieni, and Uplands signed the agreements with KFS that will go until 2027.
Kinale CFA differences played out publicly during the signing of the agreements, when a member blocked chairman Peter Githuka from taking the microphone.
When he finally took the microphone, Githuka said he has differences with some of his members.
“We have had disputes for a while. We agreed on how we can work, but some problems are still persistent. The case that we have in court has also not yet been resolved," he said.
“It is unfortunate that we will not sign the FMAs and PFMPs despite being the hosts of this event."
Kinale CFA members have called for quick resolution of the problems to affirm their presence in the forest.
“We are in the dark because we have failed to agree. We need to be guided since some innocent members are suffering silently,” Bedan Wachira said.
Some of the farming activities the CFAs are doing in the forests include, crop cultivation, animal grazing, tourism and bee keeping.
Lari DCC Samuel Kariuki said efforts to resolve the differences have been hampered by some members.
“This is a shame, we have held several meetings. One was attended by Forestry CS Ephantus Kimani, unfortunately this issue is still coming up,” he said.
Mbula praised the other four CFAs for their cooperation to secure the forest ecosystems.
She urged members to upscale tree growing on public forests and farms to help the government achieve 30 per cent forest cover by 2032.
