NAIROBI, Dec 17 (Reuters) – A Kenyan environmentalist who sued to stop the opening of a new Ritz-Carlton safari lodge that he said blocked a wildebeest migration corridor in the Maasai Mara reserve has applied to withdraw the case, his lawyers said on Wednesday.
No explanation for the withdrawal was provided in the notice.
Activist Meitamei Olol Dapash from the Institute for Maasai Education, Research and Conservation (MERC) filed a lawsuit against Ritz-Carlton, its owner Marriott, the project’s local developer Lazizi Mara Limited and Kenyan authorities in August to try to block the scheduled opening of the lodge.
In his petition, he said the luxury 20-suite camp, which includes plunge pools and provides a personalised butler service, obstructs a crucial migration corridor between Maasai Mara and Tanzania’s Serengeti.
Researchers say migration allows wildebeest to find food and maintain genetic diversity among herds.
“The Petitioner herein wishes to withdraw the entire suit instituted by way of petition dated 8th August 2025 with no orders as to costs,” Dapash’s lawyers said in a filing to the Environment and Land Court in Narok.
Kenya’s Citizen TV said on its X account that it was because Dapash’s concerns had been sufficiently addressed.
Dapash did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In late November, the Kenya Wildlife Service rejected accusations that the lodge was blocking the wildebeest migration corridor.
(Reporting by Humphrey Malalo and Aaron Ross; Writing by George Obulutsa, editing by Ed Osmond)
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