For nearly four decades, Urs Ringler has been a quiet giant in Kenya's horticultural industry.
The Swiss entrepreneur from Lucerne arrived in Kenya in 1987 with a vision to transform Nairobi's landscapes through Diani Flowers & Landscaping Ltd, a company that would grow from modest beginnings into a major player in institutional landscaping.
But in one of Nairobi's most exclusive neighbourhoods, Ringler is now at the centre of a dispute with neighbours who accuse his employees of burning firewood and yard debris on his property and subjecting nearby residents to smoke while ignoring repeated attempts to have the activity stopped.
The dispute unfolded through a series of WhatsApp messages in which one of the residents appealed directly to Ringler to intervene, initially approaching him in the spirit of someone seeking an amicable solution.
“Morning Sir, I really hope this can be stopped. Reaching out to you as a neighbour,” the resident wrote to Ringler after sending him videos showing the area around the property.
The message came after the resident had tried to draw Ringler's attention to what they regarded as an ongoing problem, with the videos showing the property and surrounding vegetation.
One of the images shows a pile of dry brush, branches and yard debris burning inside the walled compound, with smoke rising from the fire.
Another angle shows three to four people in a wooded outdoor area where a large pile of cut wooden branches, logs and thick brush has been spread across the ground.
What followed was not an immediate resolution.
Instead, the exchange became increasingly tense as the neighbour pressed Ringler to address the burning and its effects on people living next to the property.
“You can't be burning firewood in a residential neighbourhood. Attempts to sort this amicably seem to be futile,” the resident told Ringler.
“You really are very insensitive, right?” the neighbour added in the same exchange.
Ringler responded by saying he would return the call before asking for the identity of the person making the complaint.
“I will call you back shortly,” Ringler wrote.
“Will revert what is your name?” he added shortly afterwards.
The response shifted the exchange towards the identity of the complainant, but the neighbour insisted that their name was not the issue and that the focus should remain on the conduct taking place on Ringler's property.
“Let's deal with the right issue boss,” the neighbour replied.
“My name is not important here boss, it's the action of your employees under your instructions,” the resident said.
“And the adverse effects,” the neighbour added.
The resident then explained why they had approached Ringler directly, pointing out that they lived next to his property and were directly affected by what was happening there.
“I live next to your land and your action is causing us immeasurable pain,” the neighbour wrote.
Ringler responded by questioning the resident's length of stay in the area.
“You seem to be new to the area we have been there long ago,” Ringler said.
The neighbour rejected the suggestion that Ringler's longer presence in Runda justified the activity being complained about.
“Yes if guys have been okay with it then we are not okay with it,” the resident replied.
“Being here long does not negate the fact that what you are doing is wrong,” the neighbour added.
The exchange then turned directly to Diani Flowers and the environmental implications of the activity.
“Is this what Diani Flowers does to the environment?” the resident asked.
The neighbour also accused Ringler's employees of responding dismissively when the issue was raised with them.
“You staff show utmost contempt with saying what will we do. You seem to be above the law,” the resident wrote.
“I have tried reaching out but looks like it doesn't bother you,” the resident later wrote.
Ringler replied that he did not know the person and pointed out that they had not introduced themselves.
“I do not know you you did not share even your name ...” Ringler responded.
The exchange ended with the neighbour expressing disappointment over what they regarded as an unsuccessful attempt to resolve the dispute respectfully.
“I have tried reaching out respectfully but I guess it doesn't matter,” the resident wrote.
NEMA Denied Entry
This is not the only attempt residents made to be heard.
Multiple complaints have reportedly been lodged with NEMA over the burning at the property, and in at least one instance, an official from the authority visited the premises to investigate.
A copy of an Improvement Notice (Serial No. 15412), issued under Section 117(3)(g) of the Environmental Management and Coordination Act (EMCA) Cap 387, shows that a NEMA environmental inspector visited Diani Flowers & Landscaping's premises in Runda at 3:39 pm on 7th September 2026.
The inspector's recorded observations echo the residents' complaints almost word for word.
“You are undertaking open burning of waste within the Runda area. Cutting down of trees was also observed. A lot of smoke was observed coming out of your facility. The NEMA inspector was denied entry to your facility,” the inspector stated in the Improvement Notice issued to the property.
The inspector was denied entry to the facility and, unable to gain access, left the notice at the gate with a handwritten annotation reading: “Not signed. Left at the gate.”
Acting under Section 117(b) of EMCA Cap 387, the inspector ordered the company to cease the open burning of waste and the cutting down of trees with immediate effect.
The notice further directs the company to submit its environmental compliance records to NEMA for verification and provide a written explanation for why the inspector was denied entry and why enforcement action should not be taken over the refusal.
The notice warns that under Section 137 of EMCA Cap 387, any person who fails, neglects or refuses to carry out an order issued by an environmental inspector commits an offence punishable, upon conviction, by a fine of between two and four million shillings, imprisonment of between one and four years, or both.
The inspector signed and dated the notice on 7th September 2026, while the section reserved for the proponent's signature was left blank.
Language of Impunity
This complaint is not really about firewood.
It is about power.
The WhatsApp exchange reveals a pattern familiar to many who have tried to hold the wealthy and well-connected accountable.
They are met with deflection, dismissal, and the quiet assumption that rules apply to others, not to oneself.
When the neighbour raised the issue, Ringler did not deny the burning or promise to stop it.
Instead, he asked for the complainant's name and questioned how long they had lived in the area.
He suggested, without saying it directly, that his longer presence entitled him to greater consideration.
This is the problem with Kenya's culture of impunity.
It is not a failure of the law but a refusal by the powerful to accept that it applies to them.
The owner of a company that maintains the UN's gardens and secures multi-million-dollar contracts from the U.S. government should not need to be asked twice to stop burning trees in a residential neighbourhood.
The response by Urs Ringler tells you everything you need to know.
Contracts and connections, not conscience or compliance, govern his conduct.
His employees operate with the confidence of those who believe no authority will hold them to account.
This is not an isolated incident but a recurring pattern among the elite in Kenya who have learned that the law bends.
Urs Ringler believes that deep networks within the ruling class, proximity to power, and lucrative contracts with international institutions place them beyond the reach of the law.
But neighbours have refused to accept that skewed logic.
But neighbours have refused to accept that logic. They are no longer content with private appeals to a man who does not listen.
The complaints have now been directed to the authorities whose mandate it is to act.
In a submission to this publication, residents note that NEMA has already issued an Improvement Notice against the property and are now calling on the authority to follow through on enforcing the cessation order it has already issued and investigating why its inspector was denied entry to the property in the first place.
The Kenya Forest Service has been asked to investigate violations of regulations governing the conservation of trees and vegetation, while the Nairobi City County Government has been called upon to address the public nuisance.
The Westlands sub-county administration, under whose jurisdiction Runda falls, has also been specifically named in the appeal. Residents have also called on the Ministry of Environment to intervene.
"Hello Cyprian. Kindly help us residents in Runda. We are at our wit's end. For weeks now, the compound of Diani Flowers & Landscaping, owned by Swiss businessman Urs Ringler, has been filled with smoke from burning firewood and yard debris. The smoke drifts into our homes and living spaces. Ringler was approached directly. Every attempt has been made to resolve this privately, but our repeated respectful appeals have produced no change. We have since learned that NEMA itself sent an inspector, who confirmed exactly what we have been saying. Open burning, trees being cut down, smoke pouring out of the compound. When the inspector tried to enter the property, they were denied entry and had to leave the enforcement notice at the gate. If Ringler and his employees can shut the door on a NEMA inspector trying to do his job, what power do we have left? So now there is an appeal to anyone who will listen. We have a simple question for Ringler. If he is as committed to the environment as he claims, why does his compound burn trees in a residential neighbourhood, and why was a government inspector turned away at his gate? Repeated attempts to reach out respectfully have gone nowhere. Now we are appealing to you Cyprian. Kindly help us. Someone must act.”
