Since making his political debut over 15 years ago, Environment Cabinet Secretary Aden Barre Duale has stamped his presence on the national stage.

The former Garissa Township MP has presence. Depending on the circumstances, his presence is punctuated by noise, sycophancy, industry, mischief, humour and religion.

A hard worker no doubt, he also can be as brusque, arrogant, abrasive, impolite, boisterous, querulous and stubborn as they come. A Don Quixote of sorts.

Even with that mixed bag of qualities and qualifications, Duale is a performer. He dedicates his mind and time to the task in front of him. He does not shy away from challenges.

As the first majority leader in the National Assembly under the 2010 Constitution following the 2013 General Election, Duale gave his all and achieved considerable success.

Thus, in all respects, he has deservedly earned his space in the national arena.

After the 2022 elections, Duale was appointed Cabinet Secretary for Defence, serving for slightly over a year before he was transferred to his current docket.

It is whispered that the reason Duale was moved from Defence (replaced by Soipan Tuya) was that top generals at Ulinzi House were uncomfortable with his abrasive and noisy nature. That claim remains unproven, though.

It did not take long for him in the Ministry of Environment to start displaying his mettle – as one who is on top of things regarding that portfolio.

Global placement

It is against this background that I think Duale must drive the environment far much more than his predecessors did.

The environment and the entire subject of climate change are nowadays crucial matters of international conversations.

President William Ruto has vigorously pushed environmental and climate change issues to respectable global proportions.

In 2023, he hosted the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi where the who’s-who in global environmental affairs attended.

In addition, he was appointed by the African Union to chair the Climate Change Committee of the continental ensemble.

In fact, while in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, where African heads of state will be electing a new chairman of the African Union Commission, Ruto was slated to chair a session of the committee a day before voting.

Upon assuming office, Ruto promised to steer Kenya to grow 15 billion trees within 10 years.

Only a fortnight ago, he stated – without providing any evidence –

that Kenya had planted 750 million trees last year alone.

Ruto’s environment minister, Duale, has a herculean task. It is upon him to ensure that the pledges the President makes go beyond political rhetoric.

US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House does not augur well for advocates of environmental conservation around the world. He holds strong views on environmental issues that sharply contradict the positions of a majority of the international community.

For example, he posits that climate change is fiction and therefore those campaigning against fossil fuels are mongers of falsehoods.

Given this intricate background, Duale must rise to the occasion and raise the bar on environment conservation higher. We cannot continue to sit in a comfort zone and hope that matters will solve by themselves without our involvement. We must take adequate steps to deal with this matter.

In spite of President Ruto making voluble pronouncements on matters relating to the environment and climate change, the government has done little to tell Kenyans what specific progress is being made in this regard.

Growing more trees remains a pedestrian promise in which, once a year, the President, his ministers and some top government officials will pop out in jungle attire and white gumboots to plant hundreds of trees in Ngong forest or any of the thickets around Nairobi, pose for media cameras and make more promises on the subject.

We have to go beyond mere public relations. We need to take more seriously matters of environmental conservation and climate change.

We need to hear from the government regarding the steps it is taking on these issues and the timelines within which it hopes to achieve every bit of it.

The question that I still ask is whether we need to be going to Ngong or Karura forests to plant trees. Is it possible for the government to determine the arid and semi-arid areas where we can plant trees to convincingly prove our determination to increase the country’s forest cover?

Structured approach

What are the methodologies available for citizens to plant trees wherever they are on a daily, weekly or monthly basis without having to wait for the annual World Environment Day to do that?

What structured roles can the provincial administration, learning institutions, faith-based organisations, civil society and families play in this noble endeavour?

Garissa Senator Yusuf Haji has presented a very well-thought-out Bill in the House on environment matters. The Bill captures some of the most salient aspects regarding environment conservation that, if adopted, can effectively bring sanity to that area and make Kenya a safer place to live.

Haji and Duale come from the same county. I therefore want to believe that he has had a close look at the suggestions made by the lawmaker.

That is where Duale should start. The proposals made by Haji are crucial in the management of our environment. Duale must put his mind and time there.

Duale is one of the few senior government officials who freely communicate to the public without much prompting.

President Ruto’s government has a serious communication problem. But Duale is not one of them. He is up to the task.

I trust that Duale can step up to the plate and effectively make

environmental and climate change issues part of the national agenda.

He has the ability, capacity and capability. He should.

–The author is a Revise Editor with People Daily; [email protected]