 Thank you for keeping us company. If you just tuned in this is why 254 news highlights and discussion Monday we are looking at the development in our country. In particular we will be looking at the lapset which is believed to be Africa's region will be a very big financial hub once the project is complete. As we speak, Ramu Port is already done. We have seen the SGR and many roads that have been made. But we want to see where are we as a nation. And by the way, how many use have been employed to these spaces we are told many opportunities will be created just to sample one of the examples given or the benefits given they see that Lamu Port is expected to create job opportunities not only in port operations but also in agriculture, fishery, manufacturing, logistics, transport, trade and commerce. So the question is how many use are out there because you want to see as a nation I'm speaking to private socrates he's a political analyst welcome to the program. How are you sir? Thank you so much for having me Hilary. It's always a pleasure to be here. Great. Yes. How was your mashuja because it's a mandate celebrated yesterday? Mashuja was real. What millennials prefer to call party after party, a very packed weekend. But I'm happy. I attended it from my place. Right. I saw a lot went down at the celebrations at Mombasa looking at the president recognizing the efforts of various citizens of our nation who have worked overtime to put our name out there as a country. So I really think the celebration in itself was very awesome. But again it gave us a chance to reflect on where we are coming from as a country and where we hope to go and to achieve our primary development objectives. Very true. I'm interested to know what stood out for you actually for myself. I don't know. I was proud because as a journalist the president recognized these people and this time around unlike any other times we have seen people who are being recognized during these times of mashuja day are the people who fought for our country. But this time around the president recognized like every single sector, every person putting their effort in seeing our country become beautiful and more beautiful every day. What stood out for you? Without a doubt for myself, for you and every other citizen out there, top of the krimos there supports men and women of our country for what they've continued to do to put our name on the global radar. But again trickling down our servicemen and women have also done a commended job, the police force working day and night to really put discipline out there. It really stood out well especially when you saw the display, the National Police Service display was on point and therefore for me I really celebrated the men and women in our public service sector, our sports people and also our friends who either way contributed in our day to day lives. So those three segmentations really stood out for me. All right, great. Now let's get to business, we are talking about the Lapsit and we will look at the Lamu Port which is now complete, the bar is complete and is ready for function. And the president just launched it the other day where we are looking at the opportunities that have been mentioned, it is believed that it is one of the biggest but now as a country yes it is in Kenya. It will open doors to other inland countries, as a country from where you sited we have majority of the youths who are unemployed, we are in a country where corruption has taken effect like in every single sector. This is an opportunity that has come, where do you think we will be or what we will be seeing like two years down the line? Well thank you so much for the question. First and foremost I think that the Lamu Lapsit project is in itself a good, it illustrates that our government has put its best foot forward towards its 2030 development agenda. I also think it is very ambitious having been brought to the fore July 2016 and looking at finishing because what has been finished and what is really up for usage is just one bath but we are looking at the third bath being finished at mid 2020. I think that it presents an opportunity to the employed Kenyan youth force. It really also presents an opportunity for global investors to look at Kenya as a strategic development partner especially in port operations. So yes it's a very vibrant project, we hail the government and the presidency of course but we really need to put into perspective the criteria of hiring that goes on there. The first bath is done, we commend. We are looking forward to opening trade avenues with Somalia and of course Ethiopia because it's a Lapsit corridor. But we are looking at very sikening statistics of only 60% of workers there being of the Kenyan descent and then the rest 40% being of other descent, you know Chinese descent, Japanese descent and putting the CEO of that particular project to task. It had the audacity to tell Kenyans that you know the workers of foreign descent are bringing technical know-how that are not predominantly in our country which I think is a prefetched statement. We have the capacity to train local expertise. We only need to at least on the list or really bring in 10% of foreign descent to work on our domestic projects. So I think in terms of bringing in the Kenyan youth to benefit from this project we still have to revise and put it into perspective. All right, still in the same vein it is believed to be the largest for now. They say ships from other big countries will be coming here just to supply you know. But now as a nation do we have enough capacity, do we have enough technical know-how like you're putting it because we have the newly opened maritime school. So how many youth have been enrolled there? How many people are there? How will they be now consumed back to the markets to ensure that these jobs don't go to people out there? What strategies should the government be looking into to ensure that the people that have undergone the training they will not get wasted like other Vasity students who get wasted after going through their courses and their employment. So what strategies do you think should be put in place to ensure that these people do not go to waste? Well thank you for the question Hilary. We have capacity. We have domestic capacity that can see this thing from boom to line. We have capacity. But the problem is we really like as a country we have fallen in love with imported capacity. That's why we run around other global nations looking for professionals thinking that they are going to do it better than those of us who are at home. That's why we see instances of brainwashed Kenyan professionals saying you know I'm no longer comfortable working here. I want to go see greener pastures abroad. What I think government should do is to really look at establishing institutions that can strengthen already existing capacity. We need the government to inject more resources in unitivators. We need government to really open their eyes and be working to the fact that the youth are there, the workforce is there but they are not trained. So we need to train them first. We really need to do prefacibility training, you know the workshops and then now prepare them for these vision 2030 projects. The LAMUPOT project is projected to end. The third birth is projected to end by 2020. We can spare some time because we took some time also during the compensation. The land compensations of people whose lands were used to really establish the corridor project. The same way we took time to compensate them and make the project viable in its initial stages is the same way we can identify youth, train them and prepare them for the final phase of their project. So their capacity is there. We just need to do training. As a nation in East and Central Africa we believe to be super power for this region but as a country we have been at a point. But now this LAMPZ corridor puts us to a higher ground where it will be opening to places like Congo, Southern Sudan and even other countries. But now as a nation do you think we will stand the pressure from other nations in terms of economy, in terms of everything that will be to ensure that what we have brought in our country will see us deliver and more so issues of security because this is a big project? Well it goes back to the basics. We really have nice ideas as a country. We really have ambitious programs that can see us really deliver our citizenry into a golden future time. But the problems that keep us lagged behind revolve around misuse of public money, instances of corruption and mismanagement of funds that are set to really bring to boost our economy. And therefore answering your question we really need to rethink how disciplined we are with our finances, especially finances that are meant for this particular project. Because if we can be disciplined with them we are going to achieve some of these programs within a shorter time and therefore it's going to boost our economy in comparison with our neighbors regionally and even continentally. Without a fact we are at an adorable place in terms of economy and vibrancy and whatnot. But our neighbors also know that we have a historical problem of corruption and instances of insecurity. It goes back to leadership, it goes back to policy and it goes back to the discipline and the authoritativeness of institutions such as National Police Service. They are the anti-corruption commission, EACC sorry, and even the presidency. Once we really set a trailblazer in the discipline of our finances we are going to cap any insecurity that is going to find its way into our projects as a country. I would like us to listen into what the president was saying when he launched the Lamu Port. We will be listening to that in a bit but for now I want you to tell me as you sit here, already the port is ongoing. Do you have an idea of how many people have been enrolled already? Will we have a case that we had with the SGR? Where are we looking? You will be responding to that then we will listen to what the president was saying about the Lamu Port. I think the program has taken in a good number of youth, especially those within the coastal region. We have a good number of them. Actually cutting across all professions, we have doctors they are taking care of the people on ground operations. We have caretakers of the port and whatnot. But when we look at the balance between foreign and domestic staff, there is an imbalance. So from where I sit as a youth, I think we are doing good but we can do better. True. Alright now let's listen into what the president was saying about the Lamu Port project. Kutoka wakatinili kwa hapa mwa kawliopita mpa kaleo kueli mumechapa kazi. Mumechapa kazi. Na kulingana na viletu na ambiwa hivikaribuni mweziujao tu ta kwa hapa, tu kifungua kirasmi hii bathia kwanza, ambiwa na ambiwa mutakumu memaliza, na tu ta kifungua tu kiyona meili hii kiyahapa, hii kishukisha miziujao. Na kushukisha miziujao ni omuwanzo wakazi, siyoku enu peke enu, lakini kwa weenzenu wa Lamu na kwa kenyamu. So there's the president appreciating the people around that place for doing a great job, but now here's the question, we have the Lamu Port, it has come. We had the issues with the SGR, we are buying, I don't know whether that issue has been solved completely, transportation of this cargo through SGR, now we have the port, things will move to the SGR, but we have people complaining about the roads because this is still unemployment. People have lost jobs because another opportunity has come. How do we now harmonize all these projects to benefit every single person in whatever area they are in? Okay, thank you so much for the question. From where I sit I have an issue with the SGR in terms of what I prefer to call financial frugality whereby in the past year, that is the past financial year 2017-2018, SGR made a loss because we are looking at it pumped in, from freight it pumped in 7 billion by the end of that financial year, but from passenger it pumped in 2 billion, but government report indicates that at the end of that particular financial year, the monies that had been used to maintain that particular infrastructural system was standing at 12.3 billion shillings, meaning that there was around 1.3 to 2.1 billion shillings of loss. This is because by the time we were setting up this particular piece of infrastructure, we didn't really have an intense public participation. Cargo, what I prefer to call freight, was back then being transported by the individual low-reowners and the road transport, but when this particular piece of infrastructure came, we saw people losing jobs, we saw certain freight companies, road freight companies closing shop and therefore the larger coastal area weren't really proud of this particular thing. And therefore, amalgamating the LAMUPOT LAPSET system and SGR, we are looking at conflicts of interest and therefore government must move with speed and seal loopholes at SGR. We already have the 2A phase of SGR commenced, just the other day, we are looking at Gwon, Suiswa, Naivasha, but analysts are saying that government should hold on a bit on this and do proper amalgamation of the two infrastructures at the port, see to it that the residents there are really comfortable with it, there are no gross loss at the end of every financial year, then we can now proceed with the other phases that get into the inland parts of the country. Otherwise, let's just not do things because we want to leave legacies and we want to really look good at face value. We really pressed out of time, deputy president yesterday during the Mashuja day highlighted how the government has proceeded, how the government has made milestone in ensuring that country has moved forward in terms of development, manufacturing, everything has been put in place. We are looking at the SGR, the third phase from now, Naivasha to Kisumu, we are looking into that, but everything always in this country gets politicized. I want us to conclude with that, what is your view in terms of the faces remaining and what should we be doing as a nation to ensure that politics do not get into projects that have been brought to face to help the Kenyans? Well, I think it goes back to policy, it goes back to our governing institutions because from where I see it as a country, we are really trying our best to really improve our economy. Every other person is trying, though times are difficult, but people are trying. But what's coming out clearly from our politicians is that they are so worthy. They like politicizing things, they like poking holes, seeking half-truths and it doesn't help. We really need to train ourselves, especially our politicians need to train themselves to embrace the projects that are on their hands fully, build it less with their warnings and really look at delivering at sunset because sunrise will come and elections will come and Kenyans will seek to really bring on board people who are not too worthy. So it trickles down to institutions that are set to man the public conduct of politicians, it goes back to you media to really put out content that brings on board the spirit of true statesmanship and at the end of the day, if our politicians can be alive to the fact that it's development first, this whole thing can be put behind us and Kenya can go a step in the right direction. I'm just hoping if my director could play a little bit of what the deputy president was saying yesterday for the sake of reference and ensuring that indeed this is what we said, if we could have that clip. ... ... ... There is deputy president, final comments, most development have been seen in our country, what you make of them? The future is promising as a country, because the future of this nation lies clearly on its citizenry. We really need to open our eyes, open our minds to embracing new ideas and constantly putting our politicians into really check so that we make sure they deliver their primary objectives that takes them to the Augustals. But I can assure you that indeed we have hope as a country. All right, he has been my guest private secretaries many things for keeping us company. We have come to the end of this discussion and like you have heard from this discussion many things have been done in this country. We are looking forward to seeing more development and we want to see youths being engaged in every aspect we want to see youths being involved in this development in our country. Coming up next is Waima Shareke. We are here as a guest DJ. Hello sir! Wipe, I'm Fiti. How are you Yandah? We will be representing East Africa on another level, right here on Waima Shareke. Wonderful. You can see they have a guest DJ, I must say it's a boy. I don't know his name, but I personally do. Huh! I don't know his name! Big car. I will, I will. You will. I won't. I won't. And talk to you. We will talk to you. I have to appreciate a few people. I'm done here. People who are fans of Y-254 news highlights, they know Dan Glenda, Naomi Dorothy Anne and a lot of many things for watching us every single day. Keep it up. We appreciate you so much. My name is Derevas Hila, we'll see you again on Monday. For now. Have a good night.