We Have To Pray Before Planting Trees- Ruto [VIDEO]

President William Ruto on Tuesday, May 9 announced a change of strategy in terms of tree-planting activities across Kenya after admitting mixed success in previous attempts.

Speaking during a dinner hosted by Israel's President Isaac Herzog, Ruto confessed to having found new meaning after observing a tree-planting exercise in Israel.

He learnt that its citizens adopted a spiritual angle in planting trees, such that they would pray first before the planting exercise as compared to Kenyans who have been doing the reverse; planting trees before praying to God.

Watch the video courtesy of NTV:

“I was honoured today, to join a list of world leaders who have planted trees at the Grove of Nations, Jerusalem forest. That event has given me a new meaning for tree planting.

"That it is not only a good thing to protect our environment, but I was pleased to learn this afternoon that it is also Biblical and it is also spiritual,” Ruto said.

Ruto thus announced the need to adopt prayer in his own country before embarking on any tree-planting exercise in his quest to plant 15 billion trees in Kenya in the next decade.

“Mr President, I understand here because, for the first time, I found that we have to pray before we plant trees.

“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. Now that we do, I am very confident that we will succeed in our plan to plant 15 billion trees in the next 10 years," he told attendees who were left in stitches.

Ruto also shared his personal spiritual experience after he planted a tree at the Jerusalem Forest.

"I was honoured to join the list of world leaders who have planted trees at the Grove of Nations at Jerusalem Forest. That event has given me a new meaning for tree planting," he expressed.  

On her part, First Lady Rachel Ruto indicated that she would support the tree-planting initiative by planting 500 million trees.

"Israel which is largely a desert has successfully managed an impressive greening program and has created forests where there were none. This inspires us as Kenyans to restore our ecosystem and grow our tree cover," she stated.

President Ruto marked his 56th birthday on December 21, 2022, by planting 56 trees in line with his age, while officially launching the national tree-planting initiative which aims to mobilize the nation in growing 15 billion trees by 2032.

During the exercise that kicked off in Kajiado County, he also found a way of repaying Rachel after he lost a bet against her during the 2022 FIFA World Cup final when Argentina beat France 4-2 on penalties on December 18, 2022.

At the time, he revealed that he sat down with Mama Rachel and agreed that he would plant one million trees as part of his tree planting programme that he launched instead of having to use cash to settle the bet.

On Thursday, February 2, Nairobi Governor, Johnson Sakaja borrowed a leaf from the Head of State by planting 3,800 trees in line with the Kenya Kwanza administration's goal to increase tree coverage in Kenya.

He was at the time celebrating his 38th birthday alongside his deputy, James Njoroge Muchiri as well as Members of the County Assembly (MCA) and City Hall staffers at City Park in Nairobi.

President William Ruto with First Lady Rachel Ruto and Environment CS Soipan Tuya during the launch of the Jaza Miti campaign in Kajiado County on December 21, 2022. /STATE HOUSE KENYA