Confronting local leadership and seeking out legal representation.
Kenya – Africa Uncensored: Exposing Broken Systems for Carbon Credits
Africa Uncensored is an independent investigative media organisation based in Nairobi, Kenya. Founded by award-winning journalist John-Allan Namu, dedicated to producing high-quality, in-depth journalism that holds power to account and brings underreported issues across the continent to light. They are driven by one core belief: the truth empowers. The newsroom is known for meticulous, evidence-based reporting on environmental justice, corruption, and human rights.
- Africa
- Africa Uncensored
- 2025
- Africa
- Africa Uncensored
- 2025
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> The Story
Carbon Colony: Six Months Inside Kenya’s Carbon Credit Industry
Carbon Colony is a six-month investigative documentary examining the rapid expansion of carbon offsetting projects across Kenya and the communities caught in their wake. The investigation centred on Kajiado County, a largely Maasai-dominated region where vast tracts of community-owned “group ranches” are being enrolled into carbon credit schemes with the consent of a small committee, but without the knowledge of most people living and farming the land.
Martin’s investigation began when violent clashes erupted between youth and elders at the Oldonyo Care Group Ranch over the signing of an agreement with the Kajiado Rangelands Carbon Project — run by Soils for the Future Africa, the same organisation behind the Northern Kenya Rangelands Carbon Project that had been declared unconstitutional and suspended by carbon certifier Verra. Younger community members feared that carbon project payments would be used to fund a land subdivision process that would leave them landless.
Using documents obtained from within the community, and corporate ownership research conducted with OCCRP, Martin cross-referenced the group ranch’s members register against its beneficiaries list and found over 1,500 additional names, including companies with no legitimate membership claim. The companies were traced to politicians, a county governor’s family associate, and the government surveyor responsible for drawing up the very land allocations he was personally benefiting from.
It found that the project’s entry was being used to shield massive land fraud in the subdivision of a 168,000-acre group ranch belonging to members of the pastoralist Maasai community. Among those perpetuating the fraud was a proxy of the family of former President Uhuru Kenyatta. Local leaders, including Kajiado County officials, were also deeply involved in the fraud that was fueling a generational divide in various parts of Kajiado. The investigation also established that Soils for the Future Africa had violated the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) with the project, as they failed to consult numerous individual landowners and farmers in parts of Kajiado.
Impact Summary:
External Network Impact
Community screening
The documentary was screened for Maasai communities in Laikipia, home to the original Northern Kenya Rangelands Carbon Project, who had already signed a 30-year carbon deal without understanding its terms or the scale of value being extracted. For the first time, many learned that their land had generated tens of millions of dollars in credits sold to companies including Meta and Netflix, while their community received approximately $30,000 (4 million shillings) annually. The screening prompted communities to seek copies of their contracts, understand their exit options, and connect with advocacy organisations.
Community Engagement
Following the documentary, youth in the Oldonyo Care Group Ranch hosted a series of community forums to put the findings to local leadership, including direct confrontation of the group ranch chairman over land allocation irregularities. The youth sought legal representation, and the land subdivision dispute moved to court. Martin also connected youth leaders with Namati, an organisation that supports grassroots community legal empowerment.
Internal Network Impact
The investigation strengthened Africa Uncensored’s credibility as a long-form accountability newsroom by demonstrating a decade-long commitment to a single community. It also produced replicable methodology: commissioning independent certified laboratory testing as primary evidence, which directly influenced a court ruling. The newsroom is tracking the budget and remediation timeline for ongoing follow-up reporting.
External Institutional Impact
Admission by Soils for the Future Africa
The documentary captured an admission by Soils for the Future that not all farms supposedly in their 1.5 million hectare project area had agreed to be part of the project, a violation of Free Prior and Informed consent. They argued that it was due to fast-changing land ownership and stated that they were updating their maps upon receipt of new information on land changing hands. However, several people Martin spoke to who bought their land before the project’s entry were never engaged or consulted.
Removal of the Kajiado county government from the World Bank-funded climate program
Shortly after the documentary was released, a letter from Kenya’s Treasury Cabinet Secretary to the Governor of Kajiado became public: it revealed that Kajiado County had been suspended from the World Bank’s Financing Locally-Led Climate Action (FLLoCA) programme due to serious financial mismanagement, unsupported expenditures, and activities paid for but not delivered.
