Interior and National Administration Principal Secretary (PS) Raymond Omollo has urged environment stakeholders in Homa Bay County to enhance the region’s tree cover to combat adverse effects of climate change.
He said all Chiefs had been directed to mobilise the grassroots to plant trees through an initiative called ‘Chiefs Climate Action Day’.
The PS said his Ministry had a target of planting 200 million trees and that they were on course to achieving the target.
Speaking yesterday during Mazingira Day at Mbita Comprehensive School in Suba South Constituency, the PS urged all citizens to visit the institutions where they schooled and plant trees.
He urged pupils to tend to the trees planted in their institutions as part of achieving the countrywide target of 15 billion trees by 2032, championed by President William Ruto.
“The trees we have planted must grow to maturity through the efforts of the school communities,” he emphasised.
Omollo pledged that he will engage the Board of Management of Mbita Comprehensive School and top officials in the Ministry of Education to avail resources to improve the infrastructure of the school, including fencing and building laboratories.
He hailed President Ruto’s Administration for recruiting 76,000 teachers, adding that another cohort of 24,000 will be recruited before the end of the year.
“There is no Administration which has put a lot of emphasis on education like Ruto’s government and I urge you to support the initiatives to take this country to the next level of prosperity, “The PS said.
He said besides the teachers’ recruitments, the government had also built 23,000 classrooms, which was a commendable feat.
“Thousands of trained teachers had remained jobless for over a decade, but thanks to the current Administration, they have now secured jobs,” he noted.
The PS urged youth between the ages of 18 to 29, to enrol in the recently launched NYOTA programme in the State Department of Youth, adding that those living with disabilities would qualify up to the age of 35.
Omollo said the programme will address the challenges of youth unemployment by equipping them with skills and support for self-employment.
Homa Bay Ag. County Commissioner Charles Mwayaya called for peaceful campaigns in the by-elections in Kasipul Constituency.
He also urged the local communities to work closely with the government in fighting the triple threat of early pregnancies, gender-based violence and HIV aids infections.
The Administrator told parents to keep close watch on their children during the coming long holidays so that they don’t fall prey to sex pests fuelled by disco matangas.
The PS was also accompanied by Lang’ata Legislator Phelix Odiwuor (Jalango), amongst other dignitaries.
By Davis Lang’at
