What was the impact of the democratization wave that hit Sub-Saharan Africa in the early
1990s on the distribution of economic resources? This paper focuses on closed canopy forests
of Kenya. Anecdotal and case studies show that these forests have suffered severe destruction
since the early 1990s. In this paper I bring new evidence to investigate whether the sudden
introduction of multi-party elections in the Moi era raised political motives to allow district
access to government forest land. Closed canopy forests in the forest reserves of Kenya are
owned and managed by the central government. I create two novel data sets to understand this
issue. First, using Landsat satellite imagery I create a panel data of forest cover. Second, to
uncover the possible mechanisms, I assemble a detailed panel data of forest land allocations by
the government. Satellite imagery reveals that deforestation increased after the introduction
of multi-party politics. This has been driven by more deforestation in loyal districts and little
in opposition districts. The government administrative data shows, that after the introduction
of political competition, forest land has been primarily transferred for private use (to individuals/communities)
rather than for public use (e.g. building schools). Further, within the private
allocations it is land used for squatter settlements that has increased since the introduction of
political competition. Lastly, I find a correlation that in swing districts that greater access to
forest land leads to higher votes for the ruling party in the next election. The findings shed light
into understanding how weak political institutions can lead to serious pathologies in resource
allocation.