Over 1 000-hectares of Kenya’s Masai Mara region has been targeted by government for purchase to set up a new military facility.

This was announced late last week in a gazette notice posted by the National Land Commission (NLC) on behalf of the Ministry of Defence. It read: “In pursuance of sections 112 and 162 of the Land Act, 2012, Part VIII, the National Land Commission (NLC) on behalf of the Ministry of Defence gives notice that the National Government intends to acquire the following parcels of land for military use in Narok County.”

Local Member of Parliament for Narok County – in which the Masai Mara region falls – Moitalel ole Kenta, is vehemently opposing the sale of 1 400-hectares of the wildlife-rich region, which he says will have far-reaching negative effects on the Mara eco-system. The affected land is in Lemek and Olkinyei Private Wildlife Conservancies, located next to the world-famous Maasai Mara National Reserve.

The game reserve is known as an area of preserved savannah wilderness, with a multitude of wildlife species living within its borders. These include lions, cheetah, elephants, hippos, zebra and wildebeest.

Local communities will also be adversely affected, as some of the land is used “for the local community to graze their livestock which is their livelihood, and the plan is also destructive to the ecosystem", said Kenta.

Kenta continued that the community would be willing to buy the land if the owner was willing to sell it at a reasonable price. 819-hectares of the 1 400 targeted belong to a single individual – John Kiragu Wambugu – who would receive a hefty sum from purchase of the land. "It's wrong for the government to gazette the land transaction without involving the local community," said Kenta.

The Kenyan government has, over the past decade, purchased land alongside the 472km Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) route from Nairobi to Mombasa, as well as the planned SGR phase-two section along the 120km Nairobi-Naivasha route. Land has been acquired for the construction of dams, expansion of key roads, and the establishment of new airports.

The Ministry of Defence is yet to disclose the exact intended purpose of the land.