Man ordered to plant trees at forest for 3 consecutive months for burning charcoal

A court in Kenya has ordered a man to plant trees at a forest for three consecutive months after he was found burning charcoal.

Stephen Songoro was handed the three months non-custodial sentence by chief magistrate Abdul Lorot of Kibera law courts.

NairobiNews reports that the man will report to the Kenya Forestry Service [KFS] station for the period where he will be assigned planting trees to replace those he had destroyed.

Songoro admitted charges of making charcoal in a state forest contrary to the Forest and Conservation Management Act of 2016.

Songoro was arrested inside the Ngong forest on August 17 while making charcoal without a permit or license from the KFS chief conservation and management officer.

KFS officers who arrested him recovered a hand saw, a spade and a sack half-filled with charcoal.

All the items were presented before the court as exhibits.