Ruto defends lifting of ban on logging after court suspends move

By Peter Ochieng

President William Ruto on Wednesday  came out in defense of the lifting of a ban on logging, hours after the Environment and Lands Court suspended the move.

Justice Angote sitting in Nairobi ruled that the application filed by the Law Society of Kenyasu (LSK), was duly merited and certified as urgent.

The judge directed respondents, among them Attorney General Justin Muturi and five other interested parties to file their responses within five days.

“Orders are granted staying the government directive on the revocation of the gazette notices previously issued for de-gazettement of Forest areas/designating areas as Forests and the and re-introduction of the Shamba System. The Petitioner, which in this case is the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has leave to file a Further Affidavit within 3 days of service," ordered the judge.

The case will be heard on 14th August, 2023.

Hours later, while addressing the press at State House, Nairobi, president Ruto defended the move to lift the ban on logging, imposed under his predecessor, Uhuru Kenyatta.

Ruto said that tree harvesting, will not in any way interfere with his administration's plan of planting 15 billion trees in 10 years.

"What we are doing is that we are going to make sure that the exercise does not lead to what we have seen in the past and it is the reason why this year we have hired an extra 1,500 officers including wardens to make sure that we take full charge of the exercise around our forests," he said.

The president added, "There is no single coin that is going to come from the harvest of commercial trees that's going to go outside and make sure that we drive our plan but we are going to issue a statement in that direction."

The logging ban was effected in 2018, before being lifted recently by Ruto.