Kisumu County Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o has ordered management of the lakeside city to take stern action against those allowing their livestock to roam within the Central Business District.
Nyong’o said the livestock have been eating and even uprooting tree seedlings planted in parts of the city.
In a speech read on his behalf by his minister for Public Service, County Administration and Participatory Development, Judith Oluoch during a tree planting ceremony at Moi Stadium, Nyong’o said that November, 16 , 2023 he signed an executive order setting aside tenth day every month as a Kisumu City Tree Planting Day for all residents of the county.
He added that Kisumu presently has one of the lowest forest covers in the country at about 1.55 per cent against a national figure of 12.13 per cent.
“It is important to note that cities and urban centres are the next dwelling focus areas with populations expected to hit 60 per cent by 2050 and we must be prepared for environmental pressure that will come with this massive rural and urban migration,” he added.
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Nyong’o further said that as agreed during last year’s tree planting exercise, apart from beautifying the airport corridor, the county will be achieving 7 per cent tree cover in the city by 2027.
“We have all been seeing the devastating effects of Climate Change, the back-flow from Lake Victoria that has caused deadly floods in parts of Kisumu is directly linked to climate change whose major cause has been linked to deforestation and poor land use,” Nyong’o said.
He further said that deforestation has also led to the worst drought periods ever witnessed in Kenya in the past four decades and unpredictable rainfall patterns resulting in serious socio-economic distress.
“My order for severe action to be taken against animal owners spoiling our trees is because we have had cases where we spend resources by buying seedlings only for them to be destroyed by animals,” he said.
He lamented that such have been witnessed along the airport corridor where some residents have allowed goats and cows to destroy tree seedlings.
By Fredrick Odiero
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