 I'm sorry for interrupting this, because we're having such a good time, I'm still running out, so I want to cover as much as I possibly can, and I want to take it from that point of yours from the Finance Act. So the Finance Act has been making headlines, highlights all over the place, splashing. First time it was in the High Court, High Court capped it, Court of Appeal, you know, removed that cap, it kind of was implemented, until now the Supreme Court, you know, we're taking the Supreme Court as of today, it's a three judge bench and I'll be telling you a little bit more about that in a second, but as of now it has technically been passed through, because they're back-dating. That tax we should have paid from the 1st of July, it's been back-dated, now we really gotta pay it, so any amount that we receive as salaried peoples has been deducted as of 1st of July. Now there's a lot going on in that Finance Act, but I will take it from where LSK, LSK, the Law Society of Kenya has filed for a petition calling it unlawful, alright, and I just want to take it from the LSK point of view before we go anywhere else because there's so much, so so much. So the Housing Levy is discriminatory contrary to Article 27 of the Constitution. So what does Article 27 of the Constitution say? If I may read it for you, alright, it's equality and freedom from discrimination. So Part 2, this is rights and fundamental freedoms. Every person is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and equal benefit of the law. Equality includes the full and equal enjoyment of all rights and fundamental freedoms, then continues, continues, continues, that is two. So Article 286, to give full effect to the realization of the rights guaranteed by this article, the state shall take legislative and other measures including affirmative action programs and policies designed to redress any disadvantaged suffered by individuals or groups because of past discrimination now. What does the Housing Levy say? The levy is payable by the employer and employee at a rate of 1.5% of the employer's gross monthly salary by the employee and 1.5% of the employee's gross salary by the employer as outlined in the Finance Act 2023, so together it's 3%. That's why generally it's 3%, but it's 1.5% of employer, 1.5% of employee. But see now this is only touching a group of people, of salaried people. And Article 27 clearly says we should all be equal before the law. Your thoughts. Okay, thank you. We always say that a legislation or an act of parliament is constitutional until it's rendered invalid. That's why we are waiting for the hearing from the three judge bench on the legality of the Finance Act 2023. All in all my thoughts are I've always been consistent that the Finance Act is not timely. Every person who is salaried by the virtue that you are salaried does not mean that you are fully capacitated or rather you are fully able and that does not mean that the government has the right to assume or rather to extrapolate taxes from everyone. If you look at, I always like giving an example of a teacher, a teacher who maybe you have four children and your salary runs from between 30,000 or maybe 20,000 to 30,000. You've taken loans, you have a house help, you need to cater for your transport and you need to pay for your children's fees. When the government comes in and tells you that we are going to tax you for a housing levy, you are not interested in that house yet you are being forced, you are being compelled to give that 1.5% of your salary as tax, as a housing tax. You know, sometimes we run out of logic and this is why we need to encourage the government, those people who are president seem buyer, they are not listening to the people on the ground and that's what Wama Connections here said that these are the people on the ground, they listen to the people. It does not mean that if I'm a teacher, if I'm being salaried, then I'm fully able. I'm also facing my own demons, financial demons and I think that's what the government should try and listen to. We look forward to, you know, a very fierce battle from the litigants and from the judges because they are very strong grounds that suppose or rather that purport that the implementation of the finance act 2023 is an infringement of constitutional rights as provided under the law and you've read for us article 27. This provision of the law talks about everyone should have equal benefits from the law. So salaried people should be treated as equals to those who are not salaried. A person who is earning a million shillings cannot claim to be taxed the same amount from a person who is earning 30,000 shillings. So we need to invite some logic within the government structure. And the employer is done. Yeah. So we need to employ wisdom because let me not say that the government is acting based on lack of it, but at least we need to get a clear information before we implement such kind of important decisions. But according to me, until the act is rendered unconstitutional, it will be implemented on Kenyans. It's already being implemented. It's already being implemented. So we are already filling the pinch. You know the voice of, we always say that the voice of the people is the voice of God. If the majority are filling the pinch of this, then we need to listen to them because they are the people who are contributing towards the progress and development of this country. Yeah. And of course our favorite body, the Kenya Revenue Authority has been allocated to be the collecting agent. And nowadays they are very active on social media. Very, very. They even come up with memes. Yeah. Okay. But the school is scary. Please kindly. I miss my bad now. Yeah. Kindly. So the three judge bench comprises of Lawrence, Mugambi, David, Majanja, and Christine Maori, if I'm correct. And these are pointed by Chief Justice Mother Kohoma. So this is going to be happening from today. Maybe I'll give you a few minutes to just give me your thoughts on that. Okay. What I want to say, I want to support what Mr. Kenya have said, that at least we have an independent judiciary and the judiciary that respects the constitution of Kenya. And also the public interest. I hope today, because they are going through a hearing, I hope that the judiciary will speak how the constitution says. Because the judges, they speak about the laws and the constitution of Kenya. We politicians, we speak about the people. But the judges speak about the constitution and also the rights of the people within the constitution, whether they are violated or infringed by the government of the day. So this is the time that the judiciary will come out clearly to defend our motherland, to defend our people. Because even civil servants, most of them, will be affected. Because some of them, they have loans, they are paying. Some of them, they have their pedants. And so many charges. So when that finance bill is still in force, everyone will be affected. Because even an employer, that's why the other day I had a president for our neighbor country, Madam Sulu said, since the finance bill in Kenya started to, that controversy has made, has caused the investors to learn away from this country to go to, to her country, to invest there. And they are well welcomed. Because of the challenges that we are having as a nation, that over taxation, over taxing of our people, because even the investors cannot be able to sustain the employee, to pay the taxes, yet they pay, they used to pay NTIF also, and other expenses. But now, as he said, the president might be, is not bad, but the people around him, they are misadvicing him to take the long direction because as a president, you have to see, to protect your country, to protect your, your citizen, but not to victimize them. And you should listen to them because they are the majority, they are the taxpayers. These are the people that have voted for him to become the president. It should be, what he does, should be for the best interests of the people of Kenya, but not about what those people who are, who are hardliners, for instance, for, right now, they have a talk, the opposition in Kenya, but on his side, there are people who are hardliners regarding the talks, which we are, which I want to congratulate them because they have accepted to talk for the best interests of the country, from both side, the opposition as a Mio and Kenyak ones, although they have not agreed, but they are giving the conditions, but not, no, not power sharing, but they have accepted, they want to talk for the best interests of the, because we don't want to lose Kenyans through the most tuition, we want the, we want them to address the high cost of living, we want them to see this nation going to the light direction. So if those people around him, they are going to mis-defice him, to have attacks people in order to get money to manage the country, to run the country, because you cannot build the nation, do an overnight, you have, it's a process. Rome was not built in a day. Yeah, so you have to, for the procedure, a process in order to make success. So if he consider the will of the Kenyans, at this time, it will be in the right track, but if they are going to push and to impose people to pay the tax because they have the power, they have everything, they have the machinery to do so, I think that government, everybody will not be, will not like that government to be away from that government and will not be respected because the people will further, will treat them as if they are the enemy of the people, even the members of parliament who pass those bills, finance bills, even in the public, coming to interact with the members of the public, they will continue to experience hostility from the members of the public, you know the crowd and we know how the people, the feelings and the temperature of the people are not happy because they are not respected because of the taxpayer, but they are being pushed to be by force, unhand. So that's a problem that the Kenyans once have, but if they want to change, they have a time to do so. We're giving them time. Now what we don't have is time, so just one more, just clarify, sorry, the three judges, three judge bench rather that is going to handle the finance act at the Supreme Court, the highest court of the land is Lawrence Bukambi, David Majanja and Christine Meoli. All right, so now as we come to a close, I want to try and bring these two points home. So like you said, they have agreed to talk or the president in his speech yesterday did say he's willing to talk, have converse Haitian with the opposition, but he stated three things he will not be talking about. He will not be talking about handshake. He will not be talking about the cost of living because apparently we start capping it at where it all begins at the farmers, at the farm rather with the farmers. Yes. So that's why he explains he has cut the price of fertilizer or subsidized it in a way. I'm not quite sure if I can call the subsidies, but he has done something on the ground, the grassroots level so that the domino effect will come to the actual cost of food. I don't know how sustainable that is, but it sounds like a start. You know, you can't always be saying he's not doing anything or he's not doing, or he's doing something wrong. The third thing he said he will not talk about is the opening of servers. I'm a choganeo story. We move on kindly. Let's not stop politicking and start thinking about the development of the country. Now I did want to touch on one international story, and that is Niger. Guys, Niger, as of I wouldn't say late July, there was a coup. Yeah, Africans. I don't know why we like to... Is it violence in our nature or we know? What's the problem? I personally validate whatever is happening. You do it now. All right. Let me tell you someone else was validating. One minute, guys. I am winding up. Sorry. Kindly. So we have Mali and Burkina Faso. These are two other nations that have led by generals who also seized power forcefully have stated that any military intervention would be seen as a declaration of war. So the coup, the coup, I'm hungry. The coup was launched in late July when Mohammed Banzoum, that is the current president, was seized by his presidential guard and Abdul Hamanet, he is the head of the guard named as the new leader. So now we have bodies like Aqours. And they have actually given the Niger, the particular leaders who have taken over the country, a deadline to just stop. Not talking, just stop. Relinquish power. Now, the current chairman is Bola Tinobu, who is the current Nigerian president, but he has no military experience. Where do you see this going in a sentence or two? Okay. Let me just call it the final stages of African decolonization. Wow. And that is why I'll say that I am in full support of what is happening in West Africa. If you listen to what President Traore of Burkina Faso, the current leader now, who came in after Aqours, he said that there is no way Africa can be, can have a lot of wealth, yet we are the poorest. I think you can connect that kind of irony. So I tend to believe that in every once in a while, there is that one person who is born who will alter the trajectory of that particular sphere of area where he is situated. And that is why we are having very strong leaders coming up from the West, from West Africa. And they are trying to reawaken that African spirit that, you know, we need to protect and defend ourselves. This is our land. We cannot be living in, you know, we cannot be staying here in Africa, in this particular country. Like, for example, let's say Burkina Faso, yet our minerals, the profits that come from our minerals, they are being enjoyed by other people. So we need to protect and defend our country. That is what is happening. Or even worse, now we import cereals and things like that, and we are such a rich continent. Final stages of decolonization. Your thoughts in two sentences, please. Okay. Okay, what happened in West Africa? I think it's sort of the challenges that Africans are having. And also the cost of living, high cost of living. And also the management of the resources that we have in Africa. At the same time, the bad leadership that has caused the, like Nega, military intervention to overthrow the, the regime that was there. But I think we as Africans, it's good to listen to the people and to face the challenges that we have, we as Africans. And by providing the good leadership, the leadership that is good, is providing solutions for our people. Because what we had, it seems that there's a problem in that country. The government has failed to manage. The problem that has continued to excel. And yet, people are suffering. Maybe people are dying. But the way we experienced the mandamano, that the protesters and the police, the police are killing the demonstrators. Such a crisis can cause a lot of problems. Because the nation is divided. All right. Thank you. I have to stop you right there. I am being told we do not have any more time, but I have really enjoyed this conversation. I really think we should have just our own shows, you know? Just Kandoya. And when, like just after, I don't know, we just organized because, yeah, I like to hear the voices of the youth and the people on the ground. Thank you once again, gentlemen, for making time for us. Thank you for giving us your thoughts. You thank you for staying on. And if you ever, ever want to contribute to the conversation, you know what to do at Y-5-4 on Facebook, Y-2-5-4 channel on X, Y-2-5-4 underscore channel on the ground, and those other wonderful platforms. Hashtag of the day is one in the morning. My name is Valentine. Please stay tuned. We're not done with you yet.