Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has accused President William Ruto of using the Kenya Forest Service to target Muthaiga Golf Club, turning a dispute over part of the course into a fresh political confrontation between the two former allies.
Gachagua said he had been alerted by members of the club that KFS was seeking to take over part of the golf course, which the agency says falls within the boundaries of the gazetted Karura Forest.
“Your appetite for land has now surpassed public land; you have now turned to private land,” Gachagua said in a statement on Thursday.
He alleged that senior KFS officials had arrived at the club with security dogs and declared part of the course to be within Karura Forest. He accused Ruto of being behind the move, although he did not provide evidence linking the President personally to the KFS action.
The dispute erupted on September 15 when KFS officers moved onto the Front Nine of Muthaiga Golf Club, restricting access to holes two through nine. The club chairman, Dennis Mwirigi, informed members that KFS was claiming the affected section fell within Karura Forest. Access to the section was later restored.
KFS has since defended its position, saying the disputed section, identified as Land Reference Number 13134/3, encroaches by about 21.8 hectares into Karura Forest.
The agency says Karura was gazetted as a forest reserve in 1932 and declared a Central Forest in 1964. It further says historical records show that land was surveyed and leased for the establishment of the golf course, with a plan issued in 1966 and a proposed alteration of the course boundary confirmed in 1974.
According to KFS, Muthaiga Golf Club was invited to apply for a Forest Special Use Licence after the enactment of the Forest Conservation and Management Act in 2007, and was again invited in 2021 to discuss what the agency described as illegal occupation of forest land.
KFS says club representatives told officials during the 2021 engagement that they held a title deed, but that its own records contain no evidence proving lawful occupation of the disputed forest land. The agency has called for the matter to be resolved through formal engagement under the forest law.
Gachagua, however, has framed the dispute as part of what he described as a wider attempt by the Ruto administration to take control of land.
He recalled that Muthaiga Golf Club existed before independence and pointed to successive presidents, including Jomo Kenyatta, Daniel arap Moi, Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta, whom he said had not sought to interfere with the club.
“President Mwai Kibaki, whose legacy you are working day and night to destroy, played golf at Muthaiga before he was President and frequently visited it as President,” Gachagua said.
He also invoked Ruto's strained relationship with Uhuru Kenyatta, accusing the President of turning his former political allies into opponents.
The former deputy president warned KFS officials involved in the dispute that they would face consequences after the 2027 elections, while promising members of Muthaiga Golf Club that he would oppose any attempt to take over the course.
Gachagua also widened his warning to other golf clubs, saying he had been informed that other courses were being targeted.
His intervention adds a political dimension to what KFS has presented as a land and forest-boundary dispute. The agency's account centres on historical survey records, gazettement and the legal status of the contested parcel, while Gachagua has accused the administration of pursuing private property.
The two positions have yet to be settled through a court determination on the competing claims.
Gachagua ended his statement with a reference to the biblical Parable of the Rich Fool in Luke 12, asking Ruto: “How much is enough?”
The Muthaiga dispute comes as Gachagua, now leader of the Democracy for Citizens Party, continues to position himself as one of the leading voices in the opposition to Ruto ahead of the 2027 General Election.
