The planned increase in entrance fees to Kenya's national parks and marine reserves by the governing body Kenya Wildife Service (KWS) that we reported on a few days ago, has been suspended by the Malindi High Court, which issued an injunction order to stop the implementation of the new fees proposed by the Kenyan government on the coast.
At first it seemed that this would only affect the marine reserves of Malindi and Watamu, but according to what has come to the knowledge of KWS rangers and associations involved in the preservation of the Tsavo National Park, the decision reached on 27 December would also affect the savannah and specifically the Tsavo itself.
As broadcaster K24 reports, operators of the tourism and hospitality industry on the Kenyan coast were forced to seek court intervention after the KWS reintroduced the new taxes in what they claim was packaged as the 'Wildlife Regulation 2023'.
This follows a lawsuit filed by coastal tour operators on 8 November 2023, in which they objected to the publication of the 2024-2025 Conservation Fees by the KWS for failing to make adequate public participation, among other reasons. 
On 11 December 2023, the High Court of Kenya issued a temporary injunction against the implementation of the Conservation Fees by KWS pending the hearing and decision on the main petition and set the hearing for 7 February 2024.
On the same day, in defiance of the Court's order, the KWS, through the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, made minor amendments to the Conservation Fees, the implementation of which had been blocked by the Court, and published them as an annex to the Wildlife Conservation and Management (Access and Conservation) Regulations 2023 (Wildlife Regulations 2023), with the intention of circumventing the Court's order of 11 December 2023.
On 27 December 2023, the KWS issued a circular to its Watamu office, ordering it to enforce the fees contained in the Wildlife Regulations 2023, notwithstanding the court order, forcing the affected parties to return to court on 29 December 2023 with a fresh application for an emergency certificate, following which Justice Mugure Thande issued a new injunction order to stop the enforcement of the new fees contained in the Wildlife Regulations 2023. 
"It is hereby ordered that the implementation of the Wildlife Conservation and Management (Access and Conservation) (Fees) Regulations, 2023, published on 11 December 2023 through Legal Notice No. 215, be stayed pending the hearing and determination of this application and that the respondent be prohibited from charging or requiring the payment of the conservation fees prescribed in the said regulations until 7 February 2024, in order to preserve the substrate of the application. Under my hand and seal of this Honourable Court on 29 December 2023," reads Justice Thande's order.
According to tourism operators, many of the new conservation fees proposed by the KWS are too high and, if implemented, will make the Kenyan coastline overpriced and drive tourists away from other areas and countries that offer similar but more affordable experiences.
For its part, the KWS has stated in its court documents that it plans to invest more than 90 per cent of the revenue from park admissions and other conversation activities to pay staff salaries and other recurring expenses, hence the need to impose higher fees.
From unconfirmed rumours we have gathered, the suspension of the new regulation, which thus leaves everything as it was, without raising prices in most parks to around $100 for tourists and $50 for residents, is expected to last at least until next 15 February.