The Principal Secretary for Labour and Skills Development, Shadrack Mwadime, has called on residents of Taita Taveta County to actively participate in President William Ruto’s ambitious plan to plant fifteen billion trees by 2032, emphasising that environmental transformation requires collective effort and commitment.
Speaking during the Mzingira Day tree planting exercise at Mwanyambo Primary School in Voi, PS Mwadime noted that a big percentage of Taita Taveta County is semi-arid, making the tree planting initiative particularly crucial for the region’s future.
The PS emphasised that achieving the President’s vision requires serious participation from citizens in such initiatives so that the environment can be changed and conserved for posterity.
He cited the successful transformation of Mwambirwa Forest as a testament to what dedicated environmental conservation can achieve.
Mwadime explained that the area was once very dry, but because leaders, sixty years ago, planted trees, it is now a water catchment that even Taita Taveta University gets its water from.
“Most of the times when we do such things, people think that they are just empty words, but we want to paint it in a practical way and we will continue like this. If we hold hands together as County and National government, we want to plant trees in every part of Taita Taveta in every Location and Sublocation, we plant trees to ensure that the directive that we were given is done,” said the PS.
He added that the government is using such steps of returning true leadership in ensuring that citizens have a good environment and enough food so that they can avoid depending on relief food.
The PS also announced that those with private tree nurseries will get a market, as the government will be buying seedlings from groups that have nurseries as a way to boost their business and expand.
Deputy Governor Christine Kilalo, who also spoke at the event, urged those with tree nurseries to register with the Department of Environment in the County in order to benefit from government support.
“If you are alone and you have not come out boldly, it’s not easy to get help,” she said.
The Deputy Governor noted that those already involved in the tree nursery business should ensure they expand to benefit more, advising them not to depend entirely on grants for expansion in order to develop.
She emphasised that business grows through the revolution of funds that one already has. “This is something that only needs steady steps so that you can grow in business because there are no shortcuts in business,” she said.
By Arnold Linga Masila
