This archive report was first published on 11 August 2019.
On February 16, 2016, the Kenyan government imposed a total ban on logging following public outcry over the illegal felling of trees, which was blamed for diminishing water levels in key rivers.
Despite this ban, the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) raked in Sh2.7 billion from its tree plantations in the year to June 2018, according to a report by Auditor-General Edward Ouko.
As reported in the Auditor-General's report dated May 22, 2019, KFS earned Sh2,702,904,804 as appropriations-in-aid (AIA) from forest and related forest products in the year to June 2018.
However, the report also revealed that KFS spent a paltry Sh124.3 million on tree planting activities, with Sh67.7 million allocated for seeds and seedlings and Sh56.6 million for tree planting activities.
‘This translates to five per cent of revenue earned from sale of trees and tree-related products,’ Mr Ouko said in a qualified opinion of KFS's books of accounts for the year to June 2018.
The government extended the ban on logging by a further year in November 2018, aiming to raise the country’s forest cover to the internationally recommended threshold of 10 per cent.
The extension of the ban has hit sawmill owners who had licences to log in public forests, leading to a scarcity of timber and poles, which has driven up construction costs.
