Azimio la Umoja Coalition Principal Raila Odinga has continued to embrace the culture of tree planting, days after the National Tree Growing Day
On Wednesday, the ODM Party leader planted a tree after arriving at the Westlands Primary School.
ODM party deputy leader Wycliffe Oparanya and Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi also planted trees at the school.
Raila was attending a meeting with clergy which took place in Westlands.
On Monday this week, Raila joined national government officials and Kenyans in embracing National Tree Growing Day.
Raila who was in Homa Bay, planted a tree as he led the ODM party in launching their mass registration exercise.
Government Spokesman Isaac Mwaura on Monday said the tree-growing exercise saw Kenyans plant more than 150 million trees.
Interior CS Kithure Kindiki had declared Monday, November 13 a public holiday and urged the public to get involved in tree growing countrywide.
The exercise is part of Kenya’s Landscape and Ecosystem Restoration Programme–Towards the Growing of 15 Billion Trees.
President William Ruto presided over the inaugural National Tree Planting Day, joined by First Lady Rachel Ruto.
The President presided over the planting of more than 150,000 trees at Kiu Wetland in Makindu, Makueni County.
Cabinet Secretaries and governors led the tree planting in all 47 counties where all Kenyan citizens and the general public were expected to participate.
In support of this endeavour, the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI) and Kenya Forest Service (KFS) made available 150 million tree seedlings distributed across all 47 counties.
The renewed efforts reflect Kenya’s commitment to achieving the United Nations-recommended minimum of 10 per cent forest cover per country, a target enshrined in national law.
Despite falling short of the initial goal to surpass the 10 per cent mark by 2022 during former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration, the national forest cover has increased to 8.8 per cent from 5.9 per cent in 2018, according to the National Forest Resources Assessment (NFRA) report released in 2022.
