This archive report was first published on 11 July 2019.
On March 20, 2018, barely a month after a ban on logging was imposed, Mwingi Police Station was offloading seized charcoal. This move by the State House Kenya has been met with criticism from a non-governmental organization.
Greenpeace Africa has expressed its disappointment with the recent tender offer by the State House for the supply of charcoal. The organization views this as a clear contradiction of the ongoing moratorium on logging.
“With a moratorium on logging in place, it is in bad taste for State House to put up a tender seeking suppliers of charcoal,” said environmental campaigner Claire Nasike in a statement.
According to Nasike, the advertisement for charcoal from the president’s official residence is pure irony, especially considering the President’s commitment to increasing Kenya’s forest cover to 10 per cent by 2020.
State House should be at the forefront in supporting this moratorium by looking for cleaner alternative forms of fuel such as biogas, Nasike added.
Greenpeace Africa further alleged that the country’s runaway droughts are a result of deforestation, and therefore, State House ought to lead by example in effecting afforestation.
As of 2018, the country’s forest cover stood at 7.4 per cent. The tender advert on charcoal comes in the wake of President Uhuru’s remarks at the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) where he said forestry was a key sector in the realization of his government’s development agenda.
On February 2018, the government imposed a ban on logging for 90 days, which was later extended for another year.
