President William Ruto on Monday hosted Truphena Muthoni at State House, commending her for environmental conservation efforts.
The president was with his deputy Kithure Kindiki when they met Muthoni.
This came days after Truphena completed a 72-hour tree-hugging challenge in Nyeri County.
The challenge was Truphena’s second attempt to break the Guinness World Record of hugging a tree for 72 hours.
She previously succeeded in a 48-hour tree-hugging challenge.
Ruto termed her actions as “a deeply symbolic gesture aimed at raising national and global awareness on environmental conservation and climate change.”
Ruto then appointed Truphena to be an ambassador of the 15 billion tree planting campaign.
This, he said, was in recognition of her courage, fortitude, and laudable leadership.
“As a mark of national honour for her exemplary service to environmental stewardship, I have conferred upon Truphena Muthoni the Head of State Commendation (HSC) Medal,” said President Ruto.
Ruto also announced that the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Kenya Tourism Board have extended to her and her team a fully sponsored holiday experience.
“In addition, the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry will support the realization of her dream to visit Brazil, broadening her exposure to global conservation initiatives and environmental leadership,” said Ruto in a statement to newsrooms.
He said he had the pleasure of engaging with her in his office following her remarkable and record-breaking act of spending 72 continuous hours embracing an indigenous tree, a deeply symbolic gesture aimed at raising national and global awareness on environmental conservation and climate change.
