Lugari Arsenal Football Club fans have rolled out a tree-planting campaign targeting to plant a total of 10, 000 trees in the constituency’s six wards.

According to Ayub Okwako, who is the chairman of the fans group dubbed, Arsenal Lugari family, their focus is to leave an environmental conservation legacy that future generations will emulate.

He said: ‘Our main objective is to plant trees in government institutions in collaboration with the government, which has set a target of ensuring 15 billion trees are planted across the country in the next ten years.

We have so far planted 2000 trees in three schools in Mautuma Ward. For Chekalini ward we have planted 2000 trees. We plan to replicate the same in Lugari, Chevaywa, Lwandeti and Lumakanda wards in the coming days.’

Okwako said that other than just being fans they also want to assist and have an impact in the community.

‘We came up with the group as Arsenal fans in order to help ourselves and assist the community where possible. That is why we have a welfare that assists our members in times of need,’ he said, adding that once they are done with the tree planting initiative they will shift focus

to helping needy community members.

Another fan Levings Mbayachi said theirs is a youth a group that has come together to assist the community in environmental conservation and making Lugari green.

‘We have many football lovers, but most of them engage in illicit activities like drug abuse and other harmful activities and that is why we decided to come together and plant trees.

‘Our target is 10000 trees and so far we have planted about 4000, other than planting trees we also have other objectives targeting the youth. We plan to sensitize them against drug abuse and we shall be visiting our local schools to support our female students with sanitary towels,’ he said.

Chekalini location Chief Julius Mpapale whose location benefited on Saturday lauded the group for the initiative which he said will play a great role in conserving the environment.

‘We have had so many groups but none has come out with an initiative to conserve the environment. My own location is a beneficiary of this noble act.

‘Over the weekend the group planted 1000 trees in Holy family Musembe Secondary School and 1000 here at the chief’s office compound besides sensitizing the community to conserve the environment,’ he said, adding that the initiative is a big challenge to other youths without such ideas.

Mpapale appealed to other football fans across the constituency to borrow a leaf from the group and come up with initiatives that conserve the environment and impact the community in a positive way.

Source: Kenya News Agency