By Lanre Oloyede
The family of freedom fighter, Dedan Kimathi, who was captured and executed on February 18, 1957, by the colonial masters, has organised a series of environmental, social and humanitarian activities in the build-up commemoration day.
Dedan Kimathi Foundation CEO Evelyn Kimathi said they would plant 66 trees in each of the 66 schools, across 66 sub-counties in the country
Saturday, February 18, 2023, will mark 66 years since Mau Mau liberation hero Field Marshal Dedan Kimathi Waciuri was captured and executed by the British colonial administration.
The highlight of the commemoration will be an elaborate exercise that will see the foundation’s environmental conservation champions, working together with a host of partners, plant 66 trees, in 66 schools, in 66 sub-counties, across Kenya’s 47 counties.
According to the Dedan Kimathi Foundation CEO Evelyn Kimathi, they settled on 66 trees in each of the 66 schools, across 66 sub-counties, as a symbolic representation of the 66 years since the hero’s execution.
“As a foundation, we are obligated to ensure that as many Kenyans as possible have a chance to celebrate Kimathi,” Evelyn told Tuko.
“His spirit of compassion, which made him pay the ultimate price for sake of our Republic, continues to inspire our work as a foundation, top of our agenda being environmental conservation through tree planting as an appreciation of the pivotal role our forests played as the cover, strategy, training and organization bases for the Mau Mau fighters, as they engaged the colonialists,” added Evelyn.
The theme of this year’s commemoration will be #TreesForHeroes.
The foundation’s environmental conservation efforts come at a time when President William Ruto has come out strongly calling upon all Kenyans to plant at least 100 trees, either in their compound, farm, or in any other place they find, as this is the surest way to turn around the climate so that the country can have water, grow crops, do dams, agro-processing and make sure prosperity is achieved.
“We remain committed to complimenting the government’s noble efforts in every way to ensure we grow 5 billion trees in the next 5 years, and an additional 10 billion trees by 2032,” noted Evelyn.
