In a trans­for­ma­tive ges­ture that has cap­tured the atten­tion of every green advo­cate, includ­ing myself, the new­ly appoint­ed Min­is­ter of Envi­ron­ment and Forestry, Hon. Duale, has res­olute­ly put an end to the export of raw veneer wood prod­ucts. This sec­tor, long exploit­ed as a facade for the illic­it trade of invalu­able species such as san­dal­wood, cedar­wood, and the esteemed Frank­in­cense and Myrrh — exquis­ite sources of fra­grance and aro­mat­ic trea­sure, has now met a for­mi­da­ble chal­lenge. As I have umpteenth times, the ini­tia­tives to erad­i­cate euca­lyp­tus trees have, regret­tably, been pre­dom­i­nant­ly dri­ven by eco­nom­ic inter­ests rather than envi­ron­men­tal well-being, a truth that I believe will be acknowl­edged soon­er than lat­er. This coura­geous move by CS Duale not only reaf­firms a rein­vig­o­rat­ed com­mit­ment to safe­guard­ing our nat­ur­al her­itage but also kin­dles a robust opti­mism for earnest envi­ron­men­tal stew­ard­ship in the era ahead.

While I com­mend the proac­tive steps tak­en to pro­tect our forests, I sug­gest that we must urgent­ly address the Min­is­ter’s 90-day ulti­ma­tum for asbestos removal from build­ings. Asbestos, once favored for its dura­bil­i­ty, is now rec­og­nized as a severe health haz­ard, linked to major res­pi­ra­to­ry dis­eases and can­cers. With an esti­mat­ed 2,000 build­ings, many gov­ern­ment-owned, con­tain­ing asbestos, the need for action is urgent.

The com­plex­i­ty of asbestos removal demands a cau­tious and well-planned approach. The cur­rent 90-day time­line, while well-inten­tioned, under­es­ti­mates the nec­es­sary pre­cau­tions to mit­i­gate expo­sure risks dur­ing removal. Has­ten­ing this process risks endan­ger­ing work­ers and the pub­lic, poten­tial­ly releas­ing harm­ful asbestos fibers into the environment.

I pro­pose extend­ing the time­line and devel­op­ing a detailed strat­e­gy that includes train­ing spe­cial­ists, acquir­ing prop­er safe­ty equip­ment, and estab­lish­ing strict waste dis­pos­al pro­to­cols and above all fund­ing for this process. This adjust­ed approach will pro­tect pub­lic health and boost con­fi­dence in our gov­ern­men­t’s ded­i­ca­tion to sus­tain­able and mind­ful envi­ron­men­tal poli­cies. Let’s ensure our envi­ron­men­tal efforts are as bold as our com­mit­ment to the health and safe­ty of our people.

As we con­front these crit­i­cal envi­ron­men­tal chal­lenges, we must imme­di­ate­ly address the reck­less and secre­tive deci­sion to dis­solve the Kenya Water Tow­ers Agency (KWTA) — a move orches­trat­ed by a few indi­vid­u­als, devoid of pub­lic par­tic­i­pa­tion and due dili­gence, paving the way for despi­ca­ble activ­i­ties. This insti­tu­tion unique­ly stands as the guardian of our water tow­ers, ecosys­tems foun­da­tion­al to our country’s bio­di­ver­si­ty, water secu­ri­ty, and cli­mate resilience. KWTA is the only enti­ty in Kenya man­dat­ed to report direct­ly to The Par­lia­ment every quar­ter on the sta­tus of our water tow­ers and has been piv­otal in expand­ing pro­tect­ed areas from just 5 to approx­i­mate­ly 185 gazetted or pend­ing gazette­ment water tow­ers. It serves as an essen­tial ther­mome­ter, mon­i­tor­ing and coor­di­nat­ing the health and sus­tain­abil­i­ty of these crit­i­cal ecosys­tems with­out conflict.

The abrupt and silent move to dis­man­tle KWTA, an orga­ni­za­tion I once had the hon­or of chair­ing, threat­ens to unrav­el decades of envi­ron­men­tal progress, and expos­es our nat­ur­al resources to renewed threats of degra­da­tion and mis­man­age­ment. In response, I make a fer­vent appeal to the Pres­i­dent, through the con­sci­en­tious over­sight of the Min­is­ter, to reverse this hasty dis­so­lu­tion. Rein­stat­ing KWTA is not mere­ly about restor­ing order; it is a pro­found affir­ma­tion of our nation’s com­mit­ment to sus­tain­able devel­op­ment and envi­ron­men­tal stew­ard­ship. It is cru­cial to remem­ber that KWTA was instru­men­tal in secur­ing UN funds to process and safe­guard title deeds for each Water Tow­er, ensur­ing these titles are kept at the trea­sury for per­pet­u­al pro­tec­tion. Ofourse this move was frus­trat­ed!  The clo­sure of such an insti­tu­tion, dri­ven by hid­den agen­das and ill motives, sig­nals a poten­tial slide towards fur­ther silent exci­sions of our forests.

By uphold­ing our con­ser­va­tion efforts and poli­cies ded­i­cat­ed to Kenya’s eco­log­i­cal wealth, we are build­ing a lega­cy of envi­ron­men­tal respon­si­bil­i­ty. From halt­ing the export of endan­gered wood prod­ucts and safe­ly remov­ing asbestos to revers­ing the dis­so­lu­tion of the Kenya Water Tow­ers Agency, every action pro­pels us toward a sus­tain­able and pros­per­ous future for all Kenyans. Think green, act green.