By Nyang’au Araka
What began as an ordinary Tuesday morning at Belgut Police Station quickly turned into an unusual spectacle that drew curious onlookers and puzzled officers.
Moments later, there was a police brief that has since captured the public imagination.
It all started when officers on routine duty were alerted that the station’s Officer Commanding Station (OCS), Chief Inspector Kennedy Wanjala, had taken part in what witnesses described as a “tree hugging challenge” within the station compound.
When senior officers moved to the scene, they found the OCS standing in full official uniform, arms firmly wrapped around a tree, drawing a growing crowd of members of the public who had gathered to watch the unexpected display.
The incident, recorded under Occurrence Book number 15/20/01/2025, was quickly brought under control.
The OCS was gently disengaged from the tree and later spoken to by colleagues, who noted that he appeared distressed and might require medical attention, according to a police dispatch.
Beyond the immediate concern for the officer’s wellbeing, the episode has sparked wider conversation about a curious and increasingly visible phenomenon: Kenya’s growing tree-hugging craze.
The tree-hugging trend first caught national attention last year after a woman from Nyeri turned a simple act of embracing trees into an unlikely success story.
Her widely shared videos, showing her calmly hugging trees in public spaces, quickly went viral and attracted corporate and philanthropic interest.
As her following grew, so did the rewards such as cash prizes, brand endorsements and, most notably, a scholarship that enabled her to further her education — a development that firmly embedded tree hugging in the public consciousness as more than just a quirky fad.
For many Kenyans, it turned out into copycat challenges across the country.
In recent weeks, social media platforms have been awash with videos of Kenyans embracing trees in parks, farms, forests and even along busy roads.
Some describe it as a wellness practice, others as an environmental statement, and a few simply as a light-hearted challenge meant to spread positivity and mindfulness.
Influencers have framed tree hugging as a way of reconnecting with nature in a fast-paced, stressful world, while environmentalists see it as a symbolic reminder of the importance of conservation in the face of climate change.
Mental health advocates, meanwhile, note that the trend has coincided with growing public conversations around stress, burnout and emotional wellbeing.
Kenya, like much of the world, continues to grapple with economic pressures, rising living costs and the lingering social effects of recent global crises.
Recently, Public Health Principal Secretary Mary Muthoni warned the public against engaging in strenuous physical stunts without proper medical preparation.
Muthoni warned that prolonged tree hugging can pose serious health risks, citing cases in which participants collapsed and required hospitalisation due to dehydration and extreme fatigue.
“Tree hugging may look harmless, but when done for long hours it becomes physically demanding and potentially dangerous,” she said.
Her remarks followed the collapse of Pastor James “Jimmy” Irungu from Murang’a County, who was hospitalised after attempting an 80-hour tree-hugging marathon.
“People are looking for grounding,” says one Kisii-based psychologist.
“For some, that might be exercise or prayer. For others, it could be something symbolic like connecting physically with nature. The act itself may look strange, but the underlying need is very human.”
The National Police Service (NPS) has not yet issued a detailed public statement beyond the internal brief, but the incident has quietly underscored a broader reality: those in uniform are not immune to emotional strain. .