Uganda’s 1st Deputy Premier, Rebecca Kadaga, has paid glowing tribute to Ethiopia’s reforestation drive under the Green Legacy Initiative.
On Monday, the horn of Africa nation, broke a world record, planting a total of 566 million trees.
“The Ethiopians actually declared a decade of tree planting and achieved their objective and now they are doing even more, Congratulations,” Kadaga tweeted on Tuesday evening.
Ethiopia set a world record in July 2019 by planting 353 million trees in just 12 hours, according to officials, and broke the record on Monday, according to reports.
In response to Kadaga’s tweet, Ethiopia’s ambassador to Uganda, H.E Etsegent Yimenu thanked the former for backing Ethiopia’s drive.
Kadaga becomes the second high ranking Ugandan official to shower the Green Legacy Initiative with praise. Last month, State Minister for East African Affairs urged African nations to emulate the activity during a Nile Basin conference.
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who spearheaded the campaign, announced that the country had achieved its plan to plant 500 trees a day campaign nationwide that citizens actively participated in the campaign.
This initiative is part of the government’s policy to combat climate change and advance a green economy. During the first round of the #GreenLegacy initiative, 25 billion tree seedlings were planted between 2019-2022, involving more than 20 million people from all walks of life.
Ethiopia’s diplomatic missions across the globe, also participated in the exercise with their counterparts station in Addis Ababa also taking part.
