William Ruto, Kenya’s President has lifted a ban on logging imposed in the country, six years ago.
According to the president, the development had been long overdue as there was now a need to create jobs and establish sectors in the economy that will rely on the forest’s products.
The ban had been initiated in 2018 after concerns had been put forward over the impact of logging on the environment and climate change.
But President Ruto, while giving a statement on Sunday, July 2, had defended the lifting of the ban, stating that the prohibition on logging had been unwise.
In his words:
“Trees were in the forests decaying while people were presently struggling to get timber. Do you see how foolish it is?.”
Ruto had further expressed that the government had imposed taxes on individuals importing timber and furniture in the recently approved budget because, in the president’s words “we wanted that to be made by the Kenyan people”.
The now lifted ban on logging had affected several areas, where a lot of citizens depended on logging as the source of their income and livelihood.
The lifting of the ban is coming after the Kenyan government announced plans to plant 15 billion trees over 10 years so as to increase the country’s tree cover.
