President William Ruto has blamed the unreliability of tree-planting drives in Kenya on a lack of prayer.
Speaking in Israel after planting a tree at the Grove of Nations in Jerusalem Forest on Tuesday, Ruto said tree planting is now a spiritual exercise for him after learning that Israelites pray before planting trees.
“That event has given me a new meaning for tree planting; that it is not only a good thing to protect our environment. I was pleased to learn that it is also biblical and spiritual. For the first time, I found that we have to pray before we plant trees,” said the Head of State.
“We’ve always tried to plant trees in Kenya, and our success has been mixed, I think because we didn’t have the element of prayer,” added Ruto.
He told Israeli delegates that in order to achieve his ambitious goal of planting 15 million trees in the next ten years, Kenyans will begin praying before planting trees.
“And now that we do, I am very confident that we will succeed in our plan of 15 billion trees in the next 10 years,” he said.
President Ruto sent out a tweet praising Israel for its efforts in restoring the ecosystem after planting a tree with First Lady Rachel Ruto at the Grove of Nations in Jerusalem Forest.
“We are glad Israel is among the world’s leading countries in the restoration of our ecosystem. Kenya will keenly follow these steady steps in building a more sustainable future for all,” he wrote.
