By Jabali Digital
Kisumu City Manager Michael Abala Wanga wants residents to embrace the Kisumu City Tree Planting Day, in a bid to boost the Lakeside county’s forest cover.
Kisumu governor Anyang’ Nyong’o in an executive order over two years ago, set the 10th of every month as a tree plating day to rally residents towards achieving a 10% forest cover, which was less than 5% three years ago.
Speaking after a tree planting exercise at Kajulu forest in Kisumu East as the country marked Mazingira Day celebrations, Wanga said all the 1 million residents of Kisumu must plant a tree on November 10, the county’s designated tree planting day for next month.
“In Kisumu City, we are saying husbands and wives, let your husband or wife not come home without a tree to plant on 10th of November. Let everybody plant a tree on 10th November,” said the City Manager.
“Churches, don't allow anybody to come and pray in your church without a tree to plant on 10th of November. Hospitals, those patients who are still strong, as they leave, advise them to carry a tree to go and plant on 10th of November. Bars, supermarkets and restaurants, tell your customers before they get drunk that please get a tree and plant on 10th of November.”
“The unborn and the born, everybody in this city must plant a tree on 10th of November,” he added.
At Kajulu forest, the city management joined forces with other partners among them Lake Region Journalists Network CBO, Mia Ywech (hand me a broom), Shofco and M-taka to plant 3,000 tree seedlings after a market clean-up at exercise at Guba market.
Tree planting exercises also took place in various parts of Kisumu and the country at large, as Kenya races towards the achieving the 10 billion-tree mark by 2032.
Josephat Odhiambo, LRJN CBO chairman said the era of journalists covering stories on climate change without taking any action to change the situation is long gone.
“As journalists, we are part of the society and we must therefore become part and parcel of the change we want to see. For a very long time, we have covered stories on flooding in this county. We are here to plant trees to prevent occurrences such as floods, instead of waiting to cover residents in distress,” he said.
Within months of its establishment, LRJN has, in partnership with like-minded organizations, successfully participated in three key people centered initiatives: Sickle cell awareness football tournament, and world cerebral palsy day in September, and now the tree planting initiative.
