President William Ruto has defended the lift of the ban on logging saying the move will not in any way hinder tree-planting exercises.
Speaking on Wednesday during a press conference, he said their focus is growing 15 billion trees and they have a comprehensive plan on how that is going to be achieved.
"I know there has been a concern, especially on the lift of the logging ban. We are going to make sure the exercise does not lead to what we saw in the past," he said.
He said the government has hired an extra 1,500 forest officers and wardens.
"By deploying extra forest officers this will make sure we take full charge of the exercise around our forests. If we are harvesting mature trees which are from commercial plantations then it will strictly be that," Ruto said.
The president said there is no single coin that is going to come from the harvest of commercial trees.
He further noted that they will issue a statement touching on the matter.
"We will make a comprehensive statement on all the challenges we are facing and what needs to be done for the government to respond appropriately," he said.
The High Court on Wednesday issued orders stopping the move on lifting the ban on logging.
President William Ruto in June gave a directive that lifted the ban imposed on logging in 2018.
But the Law Society of Kenya moved to court to challenge the directive arguing there was no public participation before the ban was lifted.
