Former Chief Justice David Maraga was bundled into a police lorry on Monday, June 8, 2026, during a high-stakes protest against a controversial Sh41.9 billion infrastructure project slating 76 acres of Nairobi National Park for commercial development.

The incident, which immediately drew fierce condemnation from human rights defenders, took a bizarre twist when law enforcement officials denied arresting the country’s former top judge, instead claiming they merely “facilitated” his transfer to the station to file a petition.

As videos circulated widely on social media showing Maraga and a group of environmental activists being rounded up outside the park, police rushed to manage the optics.

“He was facilitated to the station to petition. Those who were with him joined him. No one was arrested,” an officer at the scene claimed, despite the group being driven away in a police vehicle.

Activists confirmed that Maraga and eight other demonstrators were taken to the Lang’ata Police Station after occupying a section of Lang’ata Road near the Bomas of Kenya.

At the heart of the standoff is a National Environment Management Authority (NEMA)-approved project that environmentalists warn will compromise the integrity of the world’s only safari park within a capital city.

The ongoing project by Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) involves clearing approximately 76 acres of indigenous upland forest after converting 31 hectares previously marked as a protected, low-use zone.

Relocating the 62-year-old Nairobi Animal Orphanage to modern wildlife treatment facilities with larger enclosures.

Constructing an eight-acre parking lot to serve both the orphanage and the massive proposed Sh41.9 billion Bomas International Convention Centre.

Building a pedestrian overpass over Lang’ata Road connecting the convention hub to the new park facilities.

Critics and conservationists are furious, pointing out that the scale of the project completely blurs the line between wildlife protection and commercial infrastructure expansion.

Defending the peaceful protest, Amnesty International Kenya launched a scathing critique of the state’s backroom handling of public resources, demanding total transparency.

“We want to categorically state that Nairobi National Park is not for sale; our public spaces, our environment and our rights cannot be traded away behind closed doors,” Amnesty stated. The rights lobby added that the dispute goes well beyond conservation, cutting straight to the heart of constitutional rights, accountability, and the absolute requirement for public participation.