EALA Member of Parliament David Sankok has criticized President William Ruto’s move to lift ban on logging, saying the country will now be staring at destruction of forests despite calls to increase forest cover due to climate change.
The decision by the president to uplift the six-year ban attracted criticism from climate change and environmental campaigners, urging him to reconsider the decision.
The Environment and Forestry Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya has also voiced out her concerns on the same, saying since the president’s announcement, Kenyans have been invading state forests.
In a video by the Nation on Saturday, Sankok calls upon the president to ban the logging before forests are completely destroyed.
“Even if you say logging is for the plantations and the exotics trees, people will use that opportunity to destroy all forests including the indigenous trees. As the Maasai Community, we want to say that we have a lot of wild animals in forests and we should take care of their habitat.”
“Just like we allow the wild animals to mature and die in their habitat, it is the same way we should allow trees in the forest to mature and die, since they play a key role in ensuring we get rains.”
“We should completely keep off the forests we have. What happens when all trees are cut down? This climate change has affected everyone across the world. We should reduce the appetite for timber for the sake of our own well being,” said the vocal politician.
All eyes are on President Ruto on whether he will reconsider the decision with Kenyans wondering why he would be number one champion of climate change interventions and at the same time lift ban on logging.
by: Ryndy