- Tuya also thanked President Ruto for appointing her the first woman Cabinet Secretary from the Maa community.
- She promised to use her elevated position to create opportunities for girls and women from the community.
Image: HANDOUT
Environment Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya has assured President William Ruto of service and delivery in her ministry.
Speaking during her Thanksgiving service held in Narok county, the CS said her ministry is on course to deliver its broad mandate that includes restoration of the country's degraded ecosystems by growing 15 billion trees by the year 2032.
"We have an onerous task as a Ministry and with the leadership of Your Excellency the President, we have the responsibility to restore our degraded ecosystems by among other strategies, greening our nation through planting of 15 billion trees," she said.
"Your Excellency, I want to promise you in front of all these people here today, I won't let you down."
Tuya also thanked President Ruto for appointing her the first woman Cabinet Secretary from the Maa community, promising to use her elevated position to create opportunities for girls and women from the community.
"My heartfelt gratitude goes to you Mr President for allowing God to work through you to believe in me and appoint me to serve in your Cabinet. By that one single decision, you have changed the course of history for the Maa community," she said.
"You granted me the opportunity to become the first ever Maa woman to be appointed as Cabinet Secretary. Thank you for believing that the Maa woman deserves a seat at the high table"
She thanked Narok residents for electing her as their County MP for two consecutive terms during which she initiated several development projects across the vast county among them a primary school in her neighborhood named after her.
In his address, President Ruto described CS Tuya as a brave, calm, and collected leader, and congratulated her on the appointment saying she earned it through her bravery, diligence, and steadfastness.
"I have worked with Soipan Tuya and I can testify that she's a diligent, trustworthy, and hardworking person. Because of her hard work, faith, and diligence, she's been blessed to become a Minister in the Cabinet of the Republic of Kenya," the President said.
"For Soipan Tuya to become a Cabinet Secretary, it is not because she's a woman. It is not because she's a Maasai woman or a pastoralist. She's where she is because she deserves it."
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, Narok Governor Ole Ntutu, and area MP Gabriel Tongoyo were among speakers at the ceremony attended by Ministry staff led by Principal Secretaries Eng Festus Ng'eno (Environment and Climate Change) and Gitonga Mugambi (Forestry).