Unlike typical national events, which are often coordinated by national government administrators, this year's inaugural Tree Planting Day was unique.
For the first time, Cabinet Secretaries and their Principal Secretaries did not trudge behind the Head of State to a common location to mark the holiday, but were all dispatched to different venues around the country.
And as expected, it was an expensive affair, costing the taxpayer, heaving under Kenya Kwanza's tax burden, millions of shillings.
While the intention of the holiday is to increase the country's forest and vegetation cover, ostensibly helping to curb carbon emissions, the sheer volume of the same gas emitted by the big men and women's fuel guzzlers and helicopters as they travelled to all corners of the country defies logic.
At a time when every office in the country is crying out for the implementation of strict austerity measures, including cutting costs on logistics and travel for government officials, the arrangement for the tree planting exercise proved otherwise.
In order to cover the long distances to their various assigned regions and effectively ensure that the trees were planted, a helicopter, and a good one at that, had to be hired.
Labour and Social Protection CS Florence Bore travelled in her official vehicle to Bomet and Nyamira counties on November 13, 2023.
Photo credit: Vitalis Kimutai
In Kenya, most state officials and politicians prefer the Eurocopter AS Aerospatiale 350B3e. A heavy fuel user, it burns an average of 170 litres of kerosene per hour, according to AvBuyer.com, an online site for buying and selling aircraft.
The cost of hiring these darlings of the skies ranges from US$1,500 to US$2,000 (about Sh225,000 to Sh300,000) per hour. Bearing in mind that the helicopters wait for dignitaries and only move on to the next destination when the VIPs have left an event, more hours are added to the bill.
At an average of four hours per helicopter hired, the average cost easily exceeds the Sh1 million mark to a whopping Sh1.2 million. At least 23 Cabinet Secretaries were dispatched, with only two, Head of Civil Service Felix Koskei and Secretary to the Cabinet Mercy Wanjiru, sent to plant trees in Nairobi, effectively leaving 21 ministers to hire choppers.
According to the itinerary released by the Cabinet, the Cabinet members travelled a total of 6,742 kilometres to carry out their mission on Monday.
Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration Kithure Kindiki, who travelled 1,823 kilometres in Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Turkana and Marsabit counties to coordinate the tree planting exercise, covered more than a quarter of the total distance travelled by his Cabinet colleagues.
He was closely followed by the Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport Kipchumba Murkomen, who covered less than half of Mr Kindiki's 854 kilometres across Homa Bay and Mombasa counties.
Environment CS Soipan Tuya covered 638 kilometres in her tree-planting efforts in Samburu, Vihiga and Makueni. The Head of State also marked the day at Kiu Wetland in Makueni.
East African Community docket boss Peninah Malonza travelled 549 kilometres between Busia and Meru counties, while her Cooperatives counterpart Simon Chelugui travelled 387.6 kilometres to Uasin Gishu and Murang'a.
Other ministry heads who covered more than 200 kilometres are Tourism and Wildlife CS Alfred Mutua (289 kilometres), Investment, Trade and Industry CS Rebecca Miano (267 kilometres), Defence CS Aden Duale (259 kilometres), Education CS Ezekiel Machogu (241 kilometres) and National Treasury and Economic Planning CS Njunguna Ndung'u who covered 238 kilometres.
Those who travelled moderate distances included Energy CS Davis Chirchir (163), Mining and Blue Economy CS Salim Mvurya (185), ICT and Digital Economy CS Eliud Owalo (157), Lands CS Alice Wahome (130), Public Service, Sports CS Ababu Namwamba (119), Public Service, Affirmative Action and Gender CS Aisha Jumwa (60), Performance and Delivery Management boss Moses Kuria (66), Water, Sanitation and Irrigation CS Zacharia Njeru (92. 6), and Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha (65).
As is tradition, Cabinet secretaries travel with a host of support staff, including communication officers, who often travel in powerful vehicles, whose average fuel consumption is just under eight kilometres per litre.
A litre of petrol and diesel is retailing at Sh217 and Sh205 in Nairobi, respectively, not only the highest fuel prices in Kenya but also indicates that a lot of carbon was emitted.
Monday's tree planting could easily have involved more than 150 powerful vehicles, not counting those used by local MPs in their various constituencies, most of whom travel hundreds of kilometres from Nairobi to the areas they represent.
They will all claim mileage, adding to the Kenyan taxpayer's financial burden.
