Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Friday led a strong team of Cabinet ministers, MPs and diplomats in planting 20,000 tree seedlings to launch the Mau Forest rehabilitation plan.
They were joined by wananchi who walked from the neighbouring Elburgon, Molo and Njoro while others drove from as far as Nairobi in planting what was described as the first seeds of rehabilitating Kenya’s five water towers.
International backing
And the diplomats present from the United Nations, European Union, international organisations and the other four East African Community nations made it clear that the plan had international backing.
The run-up to the function generated controversy when it became clear that President Kibaki would skip the event despite initially having been slated to lead the campaign alongside the Prime Minister.
The political undertones were evident on Friday as speaker after speaker lauded Mr Odinga and promised to stand by him in effort to conserve the Mau.
Absent from the function were key cabinet ministers who have been hitting out at the Prime Minister over the Mau campaign.
President Kibaki was swearing in judges to the court which will arbitrate disputes in the next phase of the constitutional review in Nairobi, while Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka was in Mozambique.
The VP’s allies in the so-called KKK alliance, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Agriculture minister William Ruto were absent, as were most of the MPs from the region allied to Mr Ruto against Mr Odinga in the ODM divide.
However cabinet ministers present stressed that the function had the President’s blessings and there was no going back in the government’s determination to reclaim and rehabilitate water catchment areas.
Notable MPs present from the areas whose population has opposed the exercise, were Industrialisation Minister Henry Kosgey, Kipkelion MP Langat Magerer and nominated MP Musa Sirma.
Mr Odinga said: “You can see the government is here. Today is not for politics. When we finish this job even those opposed to what we are doing will realise the importance of this exercise.”
Mr Odinga said other water towers, Mt Kenya, the Aberdares, Mt Elgon, Cherangani will also be conserved. He announced that an authority will be created to oversee the conservation.
“As leaders we cannot stand by and watch Kenya lose her future. The environment has direct impact on our well being. That is why we are taking this first step,” he said.
He called on leaders to avoid taking the easy or popular decisions adding that he was glad Kenyans now see the link between destruction of forests and drought and power shortages but more needed to be done to appreciate the urgency of what the country is confronting.
Water tower
Mau forest is the largest indigenous forest in East Africa and Kenya’s most vital water tower, covering 400,000 hectares.
Among the rivers originating from the forest are Ewaso Ng’iro, Sondu, Mara and Njoro which feed several lakes in the Rift Valley and Western Kenya, among them Lake Victoria, Nakuru and even Natron in Tanzania.
Friday’s function was at Mariashoni in Kaptunga, about 30 kilometres from Elburgon Town.
Forestry Minister Noah Wekesa said the government had committed itself to plant 38 billion tree seedlings during the Copenhagen climate change conference late last year.
He clarified that some trees are planted in government forests for commercial exploitation by timber manufacturers who are required to replant the lost trees. This should not be confused to be forest destruction as it was a sustainable way of exploiting forests.
Planning assistant minister Peter Kenneth said rehabilitating water towers was not a PNU or ODM affair. ‘’This is about Kenya’s future and we should not play politics with our future,’’ he said.
Mr Magerer attacked Rift Valley MPs who have been criticising the way the exercise had been carried out.
‘‘Those of us from Rift Valley are pleased with your efforts to save the Mau,’’ he told Mr Odinga.
Political support
He asked the PM not to worry about losing political support in some parts of the Rift Valley because there were national and civic leaders who had committed to support him.
The MP asked the PM to deal also with rich grabbers who had benefited from allocations in the forest but resettle the poor.
The chairman of the Mau rehabilitation task force, Mr Noor Hassan Noor, pledged that all the five phases in rehabilitating Mau would be carried out.
He said experts seconded to the task force by the Attorney General were scrutinising documents to establish the legal status of the allocations and how to deal with the beneficiaries.
There had been fears that failure by some members of the government to attend yesterday’s function was indication that top officials were wavering in their commitment to conserving Mau.
A representative of the tea industry, Mr Gideon Too, said the Kenya tea growers association supported the rehabilitation of Mau.
‘‘Without Mau the tea industry will collapse. Kericho, Sotik and Nandi rely on the catchment area,’’ he said.
The industry donated 50,000 seedlings to be planted in the Mau.
Vision 2030 Chief Executive Officer Mugo Kibati pledged support for the conservation. He said rehabilitating the catchment areas and re-afforestation were main components of the plan to make Kenya a newly industrialised country by 2030.
Tough choices will be made and continue to be made for the future benefit of the many rather than the benefit of the few and rich, supporters of the Mau conservation said.
Gachoka MP Mutava Musyimi, who chairs the parliamentary committee on the environment, said what belongs to Kenyans cannot be privatised.
Nation Media Group CEO Linus Gitahi who spoke on behalf of the private sector led Save Mau initiative said the group had planted more than 50,000 seedlings in Mau in the last three months.
Companies and organisations in the initiative are East Africa Breweries Limited, Equity Bank, Greenbelt Movement, Kenya Wildlife Service and Nation Media Group.
Mr Gitahi said the companies and organisations will raise money to ensure the trees they had planted were looked after.
He appealed to politicians not to politicize the environment.
Comments