I am a tree lover although I am not a tree hugger (those people who love trees so much they go about hugging them.
I am passionate about growing trees. Our forests have already been cut down most of them to ensure that somebody somewhere lives in a city or seats on a lovely chair or somebody else have fuel to cook their daily meal.
So you can imagine how upset I am that Kidero and his country government is planning to charge people tax for having trees. Read the official story here. Of all the foolish things to do. I wish Prof. Wangari Maathai was still around to lead a movement against this county government. How do you tax somebody for having trees? At this rate this county government will start charging those of us who live in clean open spaces for the fresh air we breathe? Instead of encouraging people to plant trees he wants to tax us. Please. Can somebody take him to court and challenge that decision.
Because what it means is that if you are going to charge somebody for a tree then some people may decide that they don’t need trees in the first place. And that’s what got us into the global warming situation we have all over the world in the first place. And what is this nonsense of charging somebody for pruning their trees.
How do you just increase rates for cemeteries without consultation. The prices are not affordable to those who need them most. It is an injustice to many especially the poor that even in death they will be too poor to afford a proper burial.
Let me not get started on the fees for meetings in Uhuru Park and all that. Wangari Maathai and other conservationists did not almost sacrifice their lives for the park only for it to become a commercial property for the county government.
Nairobi City Council was unable to explain very well how they used the money that they got from parking tickets, rubbish collection etc. I am not seeing any difference with the new country government. If you can’t provide me the services that I pay for already why are you taxing me more. I would like one of those city council people to come to our house and ask us to pay for the trees we have in our compound. We already pay land rates. What is on our property does not belong to them so they have no right at all to tax our trees.
Sometimes the silly laws that are passed in this country or county make me want to cry and I don’t cry easily. But I would cry for the trees. Because they are such an important part of our ecosystem and a very very important part in creating balance.
Sometimes I am so tempted to move to Machakos county. Is it just me or that man Governor Mutua seems to have an idea of what governance is supposed to be about? Can I beg him to run for governor of Nairobi next term?
