Soipan rules out sacred cows in KFS
By Oliver Musembi and Samuel Kariuki, October 13, 2023
There will be no sacred cows in the crackdown on those destroying forests, the Ministry of Environment Climate Change and Forestry has warned.
At the same time, Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya assured that the forests and natural resources of the country will be safe under her watch despite reports of illegal activities and destruction of trees.
“We have also come to witness the Chief Conservator of Forests, issue show cause letters and the taking of disciplinary steps for forest officers who have been under investigation over the past months, following intelligence reports.
“We are sending a strong warning to both the Board of Directors and the Management of Kenya Forest Service that there will be no sacred cows. Anyone found abetting, aiding or conniving to deplete our forest resources will face the full force of the law,” said Ms Tuya during a media briefing at Karura Forest in Nairobi yesterday.
Rampant illegal logging
On Wednesday while at the Kenya Forest Rangers pass-out Parade, President William Ruto pointed at reports of rampant illegal logging of forests, encroachment and other related illegal activities, some of which he stated are being aided and abetted by the Kenya Forest service Management and Staff.
The President ordered that those implicated be relieved of their duties immediately and to face charges in court.
“As a Ministry we are implementing the National Landscape and Ecosystem Restoration Programme: Towards the Growing of 15 Billion trees, it will be zero sum, if on the one had we claim we are planting 15 Billion, while on the other hand we cannot protect and conserve that which we already have,” the CS stated.
She appealed to both government personnel and members of the public to continue giving information and intelligence on all these illegal activities and said action will be taken on culprits.
The Ministry has provided toll free numbers which are manned 24 hours where member of the public can make reports on all gazetted forests in any part of the country.
“We have in this short rain period set a national tree growing target of 500 million trees by the time it is Christmas,” she and added that forest rangers who were part of the pass- out parade on Wednesday will come in handy to help with enforcement activities around our forests.
Destroyed forests
Meanwhile, Nakuru County has the highest number of destroyed forests in Kenya, occasioned by charcoal burning, encroachment, theft of plantation and logging perpetuated by foresters and forest rangers.
The county has five major forests; Molo, Sururu, Logoman, Baraget and Kiptunga.
In Molo forest, the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) board has been accused of having a hand in the illegal logging of plantation trees while in Logoman and Sururu, forest rangers were implicated. They have been accused of abetting logging of cedar trees and burning charcoal, which has led to near depletion of trees. The rangers were also accused of theft of tree plantations and logging of indigenous tree species in the Kiptunga and Baraget forests.
In Kericho, four forests namely Sorget, Tendeno, Makutano and Kericho have been listed as being under threat due to the destruction of trees.
Members of community-based forest association, foresters and rangers have been colluding in the logging of forest tree plantations and charcoal burning in Sorget forest while in Tendeno forest, locals have encroached on the forest resulting in illegal logging of indigenous trees and charcoal burning.
Similarly, in Makutano, a forester has been abetting the rampant tree felling and illegal farming in the forest while in Kericho forest charcoal burning and cutting of indigenous tree species was witnessed although the culprits were not immediately identified. For Nyandarau County only two forests are under threat; North Kinangop and Geta forest.
Forester implicated
In North Kinangop, farming, and illegal logging of forest trees plantation where a forester has been implicated was reported while in Geta forest there was illegal removal of logs being done under the watch of foresters and the KFS management board.
These details of illegal activities happening in gazetted forest regions that have led to the destruction of tree cover in the affected forests emerge a day after President William Ruto ordered the immediate dismissal and prosecution of 23 forest rangers and KFS officials accused of abetting the destruction of forests through corruption.
Terming them as saboteurs, President Ruto while presiding over the pass-out of KFS graduates in Gilgil, Nakuru county on Wednesday directed that the corrupt officials be scrapped from the government payroll by yesterday.
Ruto called for a thorough cleanup in KFS where he tasked Environment Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya to initiate reforms in the department which he noted will play a critical role in the implementation of climate change programmes that the Head of State is championing.
Kenya’s forest cover is estimated to be 7.6 per cent and plans are underway to raise it to 10 per cent. The government has already embarked on a tree planting campaign where it intends to plant 15 billion trees in the next 10 years to increase tree cover in the country.
Kenya Forest Research Institute is spearheading the campaign by collecting, processing and distributing tree seeds equivalent to two billion seedlings required to meet the country’s tree cover needs in the new exercise which is estimated to cost Sh600 billion.