Your ambition to plant trees is admirable, King Charles tells Ruto

The Star Kenya

King Charles III has hailed President William Ruto for his tree-planting initiative. The King said that he admired President Ruto for his efforts to ensure Kenya plants 15 billion trees to combat climate. https://bit.ly/3tXCviT

Transcript

00:00 (Speaks in a foreign language)

00:04 I cannot tell you what a great pleasure it is

00:25 for my wife and I to be back in Kenya once again.

00:30 I am enormously grateful to you, Mr. President,

00:33 Madam First Lady, for your most generous invitation

00:38 to make this state visit.

00:41 The tremendous hospitality you have shown us

00:46 and the wonderfully warm welcome that you

00:48 and the people of Kenya have extended to us

00:52 have touched me deeply.

00:54 If I may say so, it is particularly special

00:58 to be able to return to this extraordinary country

01:03 in the 60th year of your independence.

01:07 Today, Mr. President, you and I stood

01:11 by the mighty Mogumo tree, which marks the spot

01:15 where almost 60 years ago,

01:18 the Kenyan flag was first raised.

01:22 It seemed to me that the tree is thriving,

01:25 strong and deeply rooted, just as this great republic

01:30 and her people continue to thrive.

01:32 It means a great deal to my wife and myself

01:40 that in our coronation year, our first state visit

01:45 to a Commonwealth country should bring us here to Kenya.

01:50 (audience applauding)

01:52 We both take considerable pride in renewing the ties

01:57 between the United Kingdom and Kenya,

02:00 a country that has long held such special meaning

02:04 for my family.

02:05 (speaking in foreign language)

02:09 (audience applauding)

02:13 On subsequent visits here, I was most fortunate

02:18 to be able to spend some time with Kenyan conservationists

02:23 from whose profound knowledge of their environment

02:27 I learned so much.

02:28 Among them was the late great environmentalist

02:34 and Nobel Prize winner, Wangari Maathai,

02:38 someone whom I greatly admired and loved.

02:41 And I'm very much looking forward

02:44 to spending a little time with her daughter this week

02:48 and to planting a tree in her mother's memory.

02:51 (audience applauding)

02:56 As Wangari Maathai said, when we plant trees,

03:00 we plant the seeds of peace and seeds of hope.

03:04 We also secure the future for our children.

03:08 This is a sentiment that as avid dendrophiles,

03:12 lovers of trees, I know, Mr. President,

03:15 that you and I share.

03:18 Indeed, having been planting trees for most of my life,

03:23 I thought I was doing rather well,

03:25 but your ambition to plant 15 billion trees

03:30 makes me look rather more critically at my own efforts.

03:33 (audience laughing)

03:36 (silence)

03:38 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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