Nairobi, July 2 -- A coalition of regional lawyers and environmental organisations has launched a fresh battle in the constitutional court, seeking to halt new luxury tourism developments in the Maasai Mara, near the Kenya-Tanzania border, arguing that approvals breached environmental laws.

The petition, filed in the Environment and Land Court in Nairobi, targets a chain of luxury facilities including the Ritz-Carlton Maasai Mara Safari Camp, Sala's Camp and Elewana Sand River Masai Mara over their alleged presence in protected ecological zones within the Maasai Mara National Reserve.

Petitioners, including the East Africa Law Society (EALS), Natural Justice, JustAct and the Africa Centre for Peace and Human Rights, argue the developmen...