Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir has assured Kenyans that the country was on the right track to becoming a green country.
Speaking during the national tree planting exercise in Chemususu Forest in Eldama Ravine, Baringo County, Chirchir reiterated that Kenya was a superpower in matters geothermal development.
“For those who don’t know, we are currently number six globally in geothermal development; we are providing leadership in terms of geothermal development; we are about 93 per cent green country,” said the CS.
Chirchir said that greener energy sources like solar and wind power will enable the country to adopt Electric Motor Vehicles and ease pressure on fossil fuels, whose rising prices have been giving the country problems.
The Cabinet Secretary thanked the President for setting up the day that enables the planting of trees to enable the achievement of 15 billion trees and 30 per cent forest cover by 2032.
“The landscape and ecosystem restoration programme aims to grow and nurture 1.5billion trees. This will lead to the restoration and conservation of 10.6 million acres of degraded landscapes and ecosystems. Increase forest cover from nine per cent in 2022 to 30 per cent in 2032,” added the CS.
He said the achievement of the target will help the country experience better conservation of biodiversity, sustained livelihoods, improved climate resilience, and improved socio-economic development of communities.
In the exercise, the CS said the target was to plant 100 million trees and escalate to 500 million trees by the end of this short rain period.
He added that the Ministry of Energy is involved since they know hydroelectric generation, which stands at 30 per cent of the power produced in Kenya, relies on water.
“We have also gone back to parliament to improve the carbon credit act so that communities conserving forests can earn from them,” Chirchir added.
He praised Governor Cheboi’s call to plant more fruit and food trees so as to benefit economically and have a sufficient food supply.
On matters of electricity, the CS said the proximity of power to homes has improved from 22 per cent in 2017 to now 75 per cent and optimistic that it may get to 100 per cent in the next three years in Baringo.
He asked the residents to take advantage of the short rains to plant trees so that, by the end, they would be strongly rooted and improve their chances of maturing.
The host, Governor Benjamin Cheboi, reiterated the importance of growing trees, saying it will ease conflict for communities fighting for water resources.
He reminisced about the old days when they would tour Lake Baringo, whose waters were clean but are now soiled due to siltation as a result of bare land.
Cheboi asked the agencies involved to ensure that 30 per cent of the seedlings they give are fruit seedlings so that they can enhance food security as well as earn the farmers a living.
Eldama Ravine Member of Parliament Musa Sirma said he is working on legislation in Parliament to set aside 5 per cent of the National Government Constituency Development Fund to support environmental conversation efforts.
“It was initially pegged at 2 per cent, but it was never put to the right use; the money would be diverted at the end of every year to build toilets and such like items,” said the MP.
He said the bill was in the reading stage and will be signed into law this week, and he called on youths to start the tree nurseries project so as to cash in on the sale of 15 billion tree seedlings.
A total of 5000 tree seedlings were planted today, topping up to 16000 seedlings, as 11,000 seedlings were planted yesterday in the same Chemusus Forest.
By Christopher Kiprop
