• Residents have been ordered to plant blue gum trees at least 50 metres from rivers.
• Governor says they will find alternative trees that are environment-friendly.
Residents of Kisii county have up to three months to remove their eucalyptus trees from river banks.
Governor James Ongwae on Monday said the water levels in springs and rivers were declining fast and thus the need for quick intervention to forestall a crisis.
“Among the rivers drying up is Kuja, pointing to the pernicious effects of the blue gum trees,” the governor said
Many of the boreholes being sunk by the administration are not producing water, he said.
"With the rates our springs and rivers are now drying up, we may not have anything to pass to the posterity as rivers or springs," Ongwae said.
The governor, who spoke at his office, said an executive order is in place mandating his executive and security agencies from the national government to ensure the trees are brought down.
The residents have thus been advised to plant their trees 50 metres from the water catchment areas.
"Let our people abide by the law when planting the trees. Even then we are looking at some of the environmentally safe alternatives for them," Ongwae said.
Ongwae also appended his signature to the 2019-20 budget bill
He, however, asked members of the National Assembly to ensure the bill on revenue allocation is passed quickly to stem a possible financial crunch in the devolved units.
He decried what he termed as measly allocations to the devolved units from the Treasury.
The governor said many development projects were stalling across counties due to budgetary constraints.
The Sh327 billion being allocated to the 47 devolved units, he said, was a drop in the ocean compared to the development initiatives being done by county authorities.
Kisii will receive Sh7.6 billion of the national revenue allocations against the Sh12.2 billion budget passed by the assembly.
Ongwe said he expects his finance executives to ensure there is an improvement in revenue collection this financial year.
"We hope that we may hit Sh500 million this year, Sh800m next year and hopefully a billion by 2022."
He was flanked by assembly speaker David Kombo and Budget and Appropriations Committee chairman Denis Ombachi.
Kombo used the occasion to also press for more allocations from the national government.
Edited by R.Wamochie