 Good afternoon everyone from Revva. You are watching us from here on Y254. It is the touchland. I am Robert Osoro. Big week on everything that has been happening. One of the biggest stories that is happening all over the world is that Manchester City has been banned for two years from playing in the UF5 Champions League. But today it is a special day here on the touchland because we are here to talk with someone who is very interested with the East African Cooperation and some of the people who are heading to the Olympics. Where are you watching us from here on Y254? It is the touchland. You can also get in touch with us on social media at Y254 channel hashtag touchland Y254. That's where you'll be getting everything when it comes to the world of sports. Joining me here today is we are doing the show in a different style because we have a guest here from the East African community. He is traveling after the show to Burundi but he made a courtesy call for us here to come and tell us about the East African community and the Tokyo Olympics 2020. We have also my co-host who was supposed to be actually at the cross country in Congress but he is here also Mark Selvastik. Are you doing my brand? I'm alright man. Why are you disclosing unnecessary details? Which one? What is unnecessary? Going to the rest coast? Anyway, I was supposed to be attending cross country championships happening right now then going to the rest coast. You know Kenya is seeking to select a team that will represent the country during African championships later for a few months from now as you speak. But of course we are getting represented by equally a neighbor team down there which will be keeping us posted with regards to what is happening. We are not taking part but probably going by our recent heroic exploits you will be given a wild card by Athletics Kenya so that she can represent the country. But equally of course good to have Ronex big man here the last time I met was a few years down the line it was in 2017 so we have been telling each other how we look different and unfamiliar. He says you have grown fat and bulky. You see Fredo Penda the problem with this man he keeps telling things that are not supposed to be told. Unnecessary. For the very first time on the touch line here we have got Kisembo Ronex Tendo all the way from the pearl of Uganda. You see there is no way you guys will exclude me from the conversation because I think Osoro can't go beyond two Ugandan faces. Ronex Tendo from the East African communities actually they see you group Africa Machariki Fest is here from Kampala Uganda. Ronex Tendo welcome to the touch line here on Y254. How is Kenya taking you so far since you arrived? First of all I want to thank you so much for having me. It's been a short notice but it's always a good experience wherever I'm in Kenya to have an opportunity to come to KBC. The big network and now that it's my first time to appear on Y254. Thank you so much for having me on the whole. I've been here for the past two days and I'm leaving this evening. I'm heading to Burundi but I thank God for everything that I've been able to work on from the time I arrived up to now. Though by the time I arrived here it was happening. The burial of Umzemoi and other things were happening in the country. So most of what I had come to do in a way got interrupted. The big question is that you are here working on a delegation that is supposed to head for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 in Japan. That has come actually August. What is that all about? Just give us a brief overview of what is that all about. Thank you so much. What happens when the time for Olympics, world championships and other international platforms where countries send their respective teams go to participate. For us as Africa Masharik Fest, we are a regional youth platform that believes in the integration of our region and we believe that sport is the language that can easily be understood as a platform through which we can pass our message to the public. So taking you a little bit back in 2016 we got an idea that Uganda is sending a team to the Rio Olympics. Kenya is sending a team. Every country sends a team to the Olympics but then where do we leave the region as East Africa? So I got an idea that I shared with the leadership across the community. They embraced the idea and they want to use this opportunity in a very special way to thank His Excellency President William Sevin who quickly understood the concept that I took before him that we needed to go to Brazil not carrying the Ugandan flag. The team Uganda had been handed the Ugandan flag. The team Kenya had the Kenyan flag. But we believe we need to go out there and showcase East Africa as a region. The answer for the community says we need to go out there. So when we go out there, we as Africa Masharik Fest, we carry the East African flag. We have people from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Africa. So we select a number of people based on their logistical challenges certainly. But we reach out to the corporate entities, government ministries to be able to support us. I will give a quick example. When in Rio in 2016, when Eluid Kepchogi managed to take the gold in the marathon run, you realized that previously it was Stimin Kiprotich, a Ugandan who was the reigning Olympic champion. And when we went that morning, both were in the race. I had a chance to interact with them when the Olympic village encouraging them, sharing as friends because out there we go to compete as individual countries. But again the bigger image of East Africa, that spirit of being an East African comes into play. I stand here to bear witness that when Eluid Kepchogi imagined the winner, I joined him when he was addressing the press and then we had the East African flag. It was the East African community celebrating North Kenya, North Uganda, North Tanzania. It was East Africa celebrating. The primary celebration would go to Kipchoga as the champion. Kenya as the country where he comes from. But the ultimate goal here, the celebration should be embraced by the region and the continent at large. Because let's look at it from the tourism perspective. All people who come to Kenya, when Kipchoga went and ran a sub 2, people will ask, who is this guy, where does he come from, what happens there, what is the climate like, what do these people eat. So all this will force them to come to Kenya and that's now tourism. And when they land here, they get to here after seeing all the tourism potential in Kenya, then they get the opportunity to hear that there is river Nile in Uganda, we have Lake Victoria, we have Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, we have Renzori in Uganda, we have this. So they end up now visiting the entire region and with the existence of a single tourism visa, where Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda have already endorsed it. You see, you don't need to come and land in Nairobi, when you go to Uganda you must pay once. So you choose to go to Uganda, you have access. Each country electronically will get its portion of the money the tourist has paid. So we believe as Afrika Mashariki, as young people in the region, that we are better off as a family. So a win by Edna Kiplagat, a win by Wilson Kipsang, a win by Kamorol, all over we've been to Berlin, we've been to London, we've been to all these international platforms where they go to rest. We carry the flag of East Africa, so that we can encourage them. When Kipchoga is running, we are there to support. When Tanzanian is in the ring boxing, we are there to cheer them. What Ronex is trying to listen with is that, you know, when Bwana Samata, the Tanzanian hot shorts, signed for English Premier League site Aston Villa, we saw Kenyans trying to claim ownership of him saying that our very own 27-year-old has signed for Aston Villa. So I think it's about East African solidarity, cooperation, stability. But you know, for someone who is watching, you might get confused in between. You see, as you head to Tokyo for Olympics, which is later for July-August, what will you be pushing, what will you be advocating for? Is it showcasing because East Africa is known for, you know, a myriad of plenty of, you know, potentialities, economic stability, sports growth. So what will it that you will be trying to depict to the entire world what we are well known for? Our tourism potential has a region that is key. Yes, we are known as Kenyans powerhouse. Uganda. We are also coming up. Ethiopia here. These other countries are known for the Marathonas. Yes. But we look at now the tourism aspect. Sports and tourism. And in this, during the Tokyo Olympics, as far as our organization is concerned, we are focusing on looking at Miss Tourism Kenya. We want to be in a position to carry to everybody to Tokyo. We also have challenges when it comes to logistics. But at least we look forward to working with Miss Tourism Kenya, Miss Tourism Uganda, Miss Tanzania, Miss Rwanda, Miss Burunda and South Sudan. So this beauty, we've designed some tourism promotional materials that we are going to use these beauty queens to be giving them out to the team managers, to the players, to all the spectators who will show up in Tokyo for the Olympics. I'll give an example of this wristband. If this can be viewed here properly. This wristband is the cameraman can try to capture this. We haven't officially launched it, but it's a wristband which is 16GB. We've made this in China and we are going to have all the footage from the tourism ministry in Kenya, Tanzania, all the partner states. Give us their specific footage, save it here like for 6GB. Then we give them out. The user will have 10GB for himself to use. And you can imagine everybody having a wristband like this which talks of visit Kenya, visit Uganda, visit Tanzania. And then the other objective is to cheer our teams. We went for the Paralympics in Rio. Uganda had only one representative and I took it upon myself to request Team Kenya to help us. The president of the Paralympics in Kenya is a very good friend of mine. She helped me out to be able to bring one athlete that Uganda had as a Paralympian in the Paralympics. He came and joined. So we could work up in the morning, join some of the Team Kenya to go for training because this was not about Kenya competing against Uganda. It's an international platform but you have only one member from Uganda. Isolated in the Olympic Village. How do we help this guy join the others to gain morale, cheer him on? And he ended up getting a silver medal for the first time for Uganda to have a Paralympic silver medal in our history. So it's all about embracing the community. We have a spirit of regional integration. We belong to a greater community. What many people in this generation of ours, actually in this, let's say, channel of ours at Wai Tufefu, we are young, we are young, channel and everything is, they don't realize the impact of the East African community. Even the former president, the retired president, Daniel Tarotichalapmoy, who has been a chairman of the East African community, Benjamin Kapa, who was also the chairman, Melton Obote, some of the founders of the East African community, they don't realize how big the East African community is really. It's an unfortunate thing but again, we need to thank our leaders. They found in fathers, as you mentioned them, Mze Kenyatta, Dr Obote and Mwae Minyerene. Immediately after this, our region getting independent, when Kenya got independence, Uganda and Tanzania, these guys would have decided to remain isolated and feeling big in their own small countries. But they just saw the bigger image of uniting, performing a bloke and that is something we needed to really salute them for. Down 10 years down the road, something happened, of course, misunderstandings there and the community fell apart. But again, we thank the leadership of President Mseveni, Melton Obote and Mwae Minyerene together with Benjamin Kapa who saw that, wait a minute, the previous founding fathers had a reason, so we better revive the community. So when the East African community was revived, for us who have experienced the benefit, the benefit are enormous really. When you are in Kenya, you are home. I'm here now on this platform. If we had to remain as isolated small countries, we had to move. You know what is funny? I was in Uganda for six years, took my high school all the way in Uganda, senior one, senior six, I did it in Uganda. And I met actually Mseveni one of those times. I met him twice actually. It was very good to Kenyans and saying, I want to work in January. And the beauty is with integration now, we don't have students from Kenya paying in dollars. These things have been harmonized. If you are in Kenya, if you are in Tanzania, if you are in Uganda, if you are in Kenya, you can make a lot of money. Even no passport these days, just your ID and you pass all through the way. What people have studied here, you finish, we have challenges young people. Youth unemployment is a global phenomenon. But at least with open borders, if you have specific skills, for example, you guys are in the media, you can have the opportunity to go to Uganda, to go to Tanzania, to go to Burundi, apply for a job, work and settle there. Go ahead and marry, in case you so wish. My brother here said he was a valentine. Stop, stop, stop. Let's keep it sporty. I think what you are trying to say, is very true. It's a noble initiative you are pushing, very brilliant idea. But now, has it been embraced by the East African member countries, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania? I know in that initiative, such initiative arises, in as much as people might embrace it, but there are few challenges here and there. Has it been like since you pioneered the idea? Well, the journey hasn't been a smooth one, a number of challenges here and there, but officially we launched this platform on the 8th of October, 2014, and we were privileged to have Wilson Ikipsang, Edina Kuplagat, Ezekiel Kenboy, Kirui, they came all the way, and they came all the way to Uganda, we converged at Mandela National Stadium, that's Namboli, we officially launched this platform as a youth organization. We aren't into politics of any sort, but we believe the power of sport to unite us as East Africans. I've got this question burning in my head so far, is the headquarters of the East African community in Russia, Tanzania, have you approached them, have you talked to them, what have they told you, what is the process in getting them on board? Well, Africa Masharik first as the regional body, we are affiliated to the African community, we are working closely with the secretariat, the secretary general, the speaker of parliament, of the African parliament, but as you know, most of these organizations when it comes to the question of funding, because we operate on no budget, but again we believe and want to thank the corporate world in the region. When we were here in Kenya, corporate companies came up to understand us, we presented our concept to them and they came and embraced us when we had the first run in Mombasa in 2016. So we've largely been surviving on support from the corporate world but with endorsement from the East African community in Arusha. And as a pioneer last year in June on Heroes Day in Uganda I was I and the team who were officially recognized by his excellence of the president and on Heroes Day I personally received a state recognition where I got a medal for championing this initiative the same has happened in Burundi and we are working closely with Miss Tourism Kenya here she's our ambassador if you know Wendy Bella she was Miss Tourism Kenya 2016 2017 we've been working with her we've gone the region around and then she'll lead the team Kenya that will be going to Tokyo. Now, away from East Africa Mashareki first now let's talk about our arrival Kenya is really bad just before we get into our arrival just before we get into our arrival we know Kenya and Uganda are about to look once again as to each other football wise because think that's the recogonized sport in East Africa there is much anxiety people are very much excited looking forward to the big game but just before that I saw you have been following you on your social media handles and I saw you on Twitter in a battalion of armed officers and I think that tells your initiative has been sanctioned approved and endorsed by the authorities in Uganda now in terms of spreading your wings a little bit further East African community is a soba brilliant idea but I'm also looking forward to ensure that now the continent emulates on what you are doing so that we can have an initiative that is trying to involve the entire African countries to push for tourism, sports stability and so on and so forth to the outside world thank you I need to state right here that our organization has been lucky that we've got the endorsement from the leadership of the six partner states that is number one number two for region integration we need to be mindful that we can't unite at once so that's why we have regional blocks you see we have the East African community those are the six countries we recently got application as a community from DRC Congo Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia they want to join the Masyariki Fest and I also last year got the opportunity to fly to Mogadishu to go and meet the president his experience for Majo to find out why is Somalia interested in joining the community and what do they bring on board in terms of sports tourism and all that but East Africa as a region needs to first consolidate what we have then we look at Sadak those countries in the southern part of Africa they also bring their bit then we have Ekoas in North Africa sorry West Africa they also bring their own then it is easier to bring blocks together and let all the 55 countries wake up and say we are united we need to have a single currency as East Africa Sadak, they get their own currency as South Africa then later we can now at this level merge and then we can have a single currency I remember one of Africa's greatest leaders Muama Gaddafi who is envious of the African community also stated that at one point and it's really great that the young mind is also following in those footsteps time is not on our side but I'd like to give you an opportunity to tell the viewers how can they get in touch with you thank you so much we as Africa Machariki Fest focusing ourselves onto the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and we are interested in going there to showcase East Africa as a region as I earlier stated partner states of East Africa will send their respective teams granted but for us now who believe in our integration of East Africa we want to go there as a team nani partisan to showcase our region's tourism potential be able to cheer and support the various teams that will be playing during different days and for Kenya we will have three representatives partner states we've chosen three those three from Kenya we haven't decided on them with the exception of one when Bela Omolo Miss Tourism Kenya 2016 2017 with our tourism ambassador she gets an automatic ticket so the other two slots are up for grabs we can contest we are eligible we need young people what's the procedure like basically we will come back and have a press conference and let the people of Kenya know why we are here and what we intend to do and how we need to work closely with athletics Kenya and my friend Paul Terigato at NOC to see that when we go there these people need to be accredited first of all to be able to access the Olympic village and they have to get the blessings of the National Olympic Committee because it is the body that is overseeing all NOC bodies in the partner states we are in touch with them to see that these people who are going to join our team will be accredited for easy access the other side and then we want also to closely work with the tourism ministry here because all that we are going to showcase on the side of Kenya will be provided by the minister of tourism in Kenya then they can decide on what to give us and showcase the other side 3 goals to 1