 We are back. Thank you for staying with us. In case you are just joining us, you missed a good conversation that I was having with Sakwa, but you are on time for the first conversation of the day and it's on youth affairs. So today we want to talk about empowering youths in leadership and development. And for this, we have a very great leader who will help us throughout this discussion. His name is David Mwangi. He is a former Nairobi senator aspirant, 2022, a political commentator and a youth leader. He's here with us. Kairu Rosayna. Thank you so much. Oh, you're glad to have you. I'm glad to be here today. Have I missed anything in my introduction? But you said much that I now introduce myself more as we continue speaking. As you go. All right. You have a very rich history. No, just reading your bio. You have a very rich history. Before we had guests, you running for the senatorial seat in leadership. So what will you tell us about that? Eventually on my bio, you saw it's written. I started leadership for you back. My name is David Mwangi. I grew up in Nakuru as a village person, a village boy. I went to the university. I ran for political seat. I won. That is in Masenu University. I became the secretary general. Eventually I became the acting president in Masenu. After that now I had to know what to do next with my political life. I came not to Nairobi. Nairobi now is different. The dynamics are a bit different. First of all, I was PA to Steve Bogo who was running for Starahi. Then I became the PA to Wajigi. He was running for president in 2022. Then I decided also, let me run for something. So at least we can have a representative of the youth up there. So that's why I ran for senatorial seat. Wow. That's a big seat to run for. It's very ambitious. You came out third. Yes, I was third. I was falling closely, my great Wajigi. That's something. Did you expect to get there? I didn't expect to get there. In fact, I expected to win. But now also my financial backbone is not that strong and also I didn't have a popular party because most of the youth are locked down at the elimination level that is at the nomination level. But you might need to get to the bar lord. That's something. So are you planning to come back again? Yes, I'm planning to come back again in 2020, 27 stronger, bigger. My opponent should be ready for the bar. All right. We'll be ready for that. Talking about empowering youth into leadership and development, now that you have a very good background in this area, what would you say is required for in youth? What are some of the things that one should look out for in leaders? First of all, we can start with a bit of history. In the world, we have 1.65% of youth under 25 years in parliament and in leadership positions. You can imagine that figure. Yet you have 40% of youth between 15 years and 27 years. So if you look at that dynamic, it doesn't work at all. So 1.65% of the ones who are in leadership yet we have 40% youth? Yes. Below 40 we have 11.85% of youth. We can call them youth because even that nine is not too old. We can call them the youth. 11.85% of the whole population in the world being in leadership. So there's a big gap yet. If we talk about below 40, we are talking about more than 50% of the population. So the representative is quite low. But what happens we don't have structures that support the youth when you come outside. You'll find the youth run in universities and colleges. You'll find them, they are very doing well in the leadership positions. But when they come outside here, you'll find that most of them get absorbed and they just, they know where to be seen. The challenges are, as I told you, there's financial pressure, there is economic, that is stroke financial, there's social, and also there is the last thought we can talk about the confidence. Okay. Yes. So that's a challenge because yes, I know, you know, even in my campus, previous campus, we had leaders, you know, they have great potential. This one, he can be president, but then you don't hear them after they are done with their fourth year and you wonder where they went. So you've mentioned the finances being a problem and all that. But do you also have the system being a problem? Because for you to get in, it takes, you know, the people who are there could not take a system. Is it also a challenge? And then one needs to be done. Okay. It's unfortunate. Also in the political world, we have good fathers. Yeah. To call them a bazoo palaju. Follow Vizuri, you'll not get to where you're going. And it's very unfortunate for that. That's why we said, like in this country, you don't have a political party that is for the youth. You'll find that all the political parties are for the old people, the youth come last. So they decide how to operate their own party. So the political parties, for example, which are a career towards the, to the, to the, to the elective positions, we don't have one that even believes in the youth as part of, and parcel of, of the, of the leadership. We can have some examples. Last election, the youth were the last. You could see if a party is to dominate a candidate somewhere, they don't give it fast to the youth. If they would do that, that would be a very good career. Yes. Yes. So they need to at least prioritize the youth or they used to have their own, you know, party that will just push them for, you know, this is for us. This is our voice. But do you think we as youth ourselves really believe in ourselves? Do you think that I would go and, you know, vote for you in, because the perception is usually that this person will just go in, they have so much life in them, and they'll just go and eat my money, you know, or they don't have experience. I don't know if we ourselves trust ourselves as youths to hold these positions or to support our own. Okay. The first challenge, the youth don't trust themselves. And also the youth don't trust other youths. You'll find that when you're buying, people will be giving you support at the youth. If they vote you in, I'm telling you you pass. Yeah, because of the majority. Because of the majority. But now you find the youth also don't trust themselves. Why? The generation that is before us didn't do the proper mentorship towards the youth. So you find that most of the youth are in the darkness. Me, I'm okay, finally, because I have tried to manoeuvre, but you'll get that most of the people who had the belief of doing the leadership, when they are outside here now, you have one problem, food, clothing, and shelter. That first, you forget about the leadership. You have fast to solve your problems, but you can solve other people's problems. All right. So how do you deal with that? How did you manoeuvre from your own experience? When we talk about the financial struggles, it's hard unless you have now a godfather who will support you in your political endeavors. So how do you as a youth continue with your political aspirations from campus and towards the playing field? Personally, I believe so much in the talking. Other than doing politics, I'm also in the business field. I'm a businessman. So you find that you have to have a backbone where we are talking about finances. Because of finances, you go nowhere. And you cannot be, depending on your godfathers all the time, to give you or to push you. Personally, I didn't have enough. That's why I wasn't that much publicized. But eventually, I'll have enough and pushed for that. And I would like to encourage also the youth, even if we don't have so much, the little that you have, to me, I'll tell you because you'll get depressed, you'll die. But to make a dog go push, push a little bit, don't push too much. If it is not working, you'll always have a next time. And that's how it goes. Okay, I love that. That's very honest. You're being very blunt. Yes, yes. Don't die. Don't use all of it. Be wise. Be wise, make sure you don't go. It's depression will hit. Yes. Okay, all right. So for you, how did you nurture when doing a burnout development, how did you nurture your leadership skills? How do you hold your skills as a leader? Someone who's aspiring, maybe it's someone who's not even holding any position in campus, but they desire to be in leadership. So how do you get to that point? In leadership, there are two things that the youth should look at. There's nurturing as you're talking about, and there is keeping the heritage. Let's start with nurturing. Nurturing is when you start training yourself, you're getting trained to be a leader. A leader does not make commands. A leader is your actions. People follow your actions. Most of us youth, it is rare for us to be followed because also our actions are not in line with what people would aspire to have. That is one of the challenges. Number two, most of us youths have lost the direction. We're not living for tomorrow, we're living for today. You don't have a leader who lives for today. A leader should live for tomorrow. You should be knowing your 20-year aspiration. What do you want to become as a leader? Where do you want to be? What do you want to be doing in the next 10 years? What's your plan? The immediate plan that is a five-year plan. And then after that, you can be able to make one-year plan, one-month plan, and daily plans. But without all that, you will not be able to make it. That is now nurturing the leader. The second bit and the second part is the heritage part. Heritage is keeping what you've learned and putting it into practice and guarding itself, guarding it. Like we said, we'll have leaders or the college compass. After that, dead. The story is finished. Your story is done. Why? Because you cannot keep the heritage. The heritage that you were nurturing during those younger years, you reach around 28, 29, you lose it. When you lose it, you lose the heritage. And now we lose you as a leader. Okay. Wonderful. So it's the nurturing and the heritage. Yes. Amazing. Simple and very clear. Very clear. So and now, you know, when we talk about leadership, how would you say, you know, with our political sphere, how it is, how would you say now bringing youth leaders into this space? Because there's a lot of corruption, if you are being honest. Yes. There's a lot of corruption in leadership. Now, that's why you wonder, do we, we usually ask, do we have leaders or do we have politicians? So how do we, how do we bring leaders into our politicians, you know, then or filled or whatever we call it? Leadership and politics are very hard to bring together and merge. Number one, politics rewards the loyal soldiers. You can be a loyal soldier and you're not a leader. You didn't even want the position, but it's a reward because you work. Yeah. So you are loyal. It works. So we say that in leadership, also in politics, loyalty is rewarded in bits, but this loyalty is, you know, in a country immediately. It is punished with immediate effect. But now the challenge is you'll find other leaders, good leaders, but in a different political sphere with the, with maybe for example, the current regime. So for them, they won't get the opportunity. They'll have to wait and wait until their people also are in leadership so that they can be able to give us the leadership that they have. So that is about, that is a bit of a challenge. So you'll find that most youths, uh, disappear into that they are good. They would like to give leadership to their country, but now the political vehicle that they wine, uh, probably didn't win the election. So they are left and they are locked out. So that is one of the challenges. One, the best way to solve that is, uh, for example, if we can have a political vehicle that involves the youth and it is for the youth, that can be able to champion for the, for the youth. But it was a ring on Agopa and, uh, they will not agree that to happen. And then also when it happens, most of the youth will say, you're on some other side, you've been supported by your godfathers, but you're lying to us that you're the face of the youth. So those are a bit of the challenges that you have. Also the youth of this country have so much to do. And I told you, they have to stand by themselves financially, economically, education wise. So most of them will shy off from the political side. But by the end of the day, the political side, even if you shy from it, it is, it has the solutions to the problems that you have. Yes. So they should still just pursue, pursue it regardless. And there's this notion that people also have, you know, that young people are all about demos when you encompass the strikes, the demos that, you know, sexual genitals like you are, you know, and present stage. And that's the perception that people have. But in a country like ours, sometimes you have to shout to be hard. But how, you know, what's your, what's your take on that and what's could be done to change these perceptions that people have? In time, you have, or you see a hungry dog, always know it can even bite the owner. So when the youths are hungry, they are bitter with the, with the current leadership, they all resolve to demonstrations. They are bitter in life. They want to drink kiosk. But as long as the youth are fed well, feeding faster, they have to be fed well. Number two, they have a purpose in life. It is so rare. You will not find demonstrations. Also, there are better ways to air our grievances and to air our challenges. And any youth would like, would like to employ that. Demonstrating is not the best way. And while we have injuries, we have so much issues that happen. The aftermath of a demonstration is the worst part. You know, you will see demonstrations on the front line. Now there's us who see the demonstration behind the story. Those calls from DCI, those calls from those years, those calls from Kamle writer's statement was what was happening. They are not the best. They have better ways that we can use even to take our grievances and to take our our requests and suggestions. Okay, so we just need to have better structures. Yes, yes. And they also need to be heard because there's no need of having a structure that cannot be implemented. So the government, let's say they need to hear the youth, you know, and this will create a good environment even for nurturing young leaders into the political sphere. Something else that is affecting the youth, I don't know if the youth leaders, let's say mental health, could it be a hindrance or something? Because when we're talking of you had mentioned mental health, so we talked to us about it in a bit. Mental health is another is a different issue altogether, but it is affecting the youth. We are having one out of every four youth has an issue of mental health. It's affecting also the old people and mostly the youth. If you're having a figure of one versus four of each person, you can imagine how many people are having issues with mental health. But mental health is not, we cannot call it a disease. It is a condition that is caused by other conditions, maybe historically. Number one, it can be caused by poverty and employment. Those challenges are the ones that cause mental health. And the current youth is not able to fight. Why? Because there's no one who holds their hand. So you will find that right now we are having too many cases of alcoholism. We are having drug abuse. We are having suicide. We are having fights and a lot of deaths in our apartments and BNBs. You look at that sphere and you will see that it is all affecting the current youth. For mental health, you have to make a decision to go for counseling. Most of the youths are not able to pay for that. You'll find that calling a counselor talking to them is 5000 per hour. Now, if you get 5000, will you eat or will you call the mental person to help you? You'll fast eat fast. So you'll find that you'll continue getting damaged, eventually, because you don't have the money. So what I would suggest is the government should have places that are not madara exactly, but counselors who are just free, who can be called and anytime they can assist our youth. When I was doing my senatorial bid, one of my points was mental health. I wanted to create a mental facility in Nairobi whereby people can just walk in, talk their problems, shout, cry, and live with their families. That's a good thing to have. Really, mental issues are something that's affecting the youths. We've seen rising cases of depression, death by suicide, of infamicide happening, and this is all around mental health. So if we can have that, leaders prioritizing that, that's something that would really help the country. Now, back again to the youth, we have talked about us choosing us. As youths choosing us in this position, but we have both those that are really for true leadership and those that are just there for money and for political gains and all that that they can get. So as voters, how do we identify people that are true leaders? What are some of the things that show? Because when coming up with a manifesto, it's all beautiful and brilliant until one gets to office. So what really shows a true leader? Number one, the voters per se of this country don't go much into the history, into the leadership manifestos that the leaders have. This country, you can win an election without a manifesto. Very fast. You just need to have money and move. You just even don't need a manifesto. You can just put your cars in a good motorcade, go telling people to vote you in and they'll vote you in depending on how much you have. But there's a generation that is rising. As the youth, we are educated, we read a lot, we are exposed, and we can now decide if it is eating the money of one aspirant, eat it, but choose a person that can assist you. This is by reading the manifestos, also question them. Before the election, we always have a question and answer. You can see in other countries like the US, you'll have a one-on-one with the aspirant. But most of the Kenyans, even if you have a one-on-one with the aspirant, what you do, you ask him for money for lunch. You don't question him. You tell him, Mahesh will do the same. He will chote you. But at the end of the day, he'll have to regain back his money. So by the time you think you've elected the person who will assist you, for him he has another agenda of reclaiming the money that he had used to buy you lunch. So those are some of the challenges. Always put the leaders on a scale. A scale whereby you can see what they need to do for the country, what they need to do for the county, what they need to do also for you as an individual. If they have nothing to do and they have nothing that is going to help you in the next five years, just don't spot them in. But the challenges, as I told you, we are still having that generation that we want to see to vote happy. In the morning of the election, there's a Kenyan who doesn't know who is voting for who. We go asking a neighbor. We go asking a neighbor. We go asking a neighbor for the next five years. That is one of the challenges that we have. And also now, at least we bring up a generation that does not know tribalism, the youth. And that will work greatly to that is the next election. And towards the next political or economic revolution whereby people don't understand the tribes, people intermix. And that's a positive thing to have. We're not tribalistic anymore. That will change even how we relate to each other when doing loss of elections and all that. So basically what we have said is know the background of the person that you're voting in. Take an interest in the leaders that we have. Sometimes it's just as long as you know the president, you're voting for the governor and then the senator and the rest. You know, you live it for guesswork or to ask the rest, but we really need to take an initiative and get to know these people. What I also wanted to know to ask is what is the importance or what is the place of having mentors in leaders that are coming up, not just in the political sphere, but in different areas, CEOs in the business world, what is the place of having mentors, as you as you, have you had mentors and how has that contributed to the past when you have become? Okay. The issue of mentors to touch on it again in the business world and in the political world is we said there's a vacuum there whereby the youths are not being mentored the right way. That's why you'll find that politicians are fighting alcoholism, but they're not fighting after alcoholism. What next? What is the cost of the rampant economic, alcoholic shoots percentage in the country? Why are the youths drinking like this? The youths are drinking like that because there's no mentorship. That is a whole point. They didn't find people who tell them reduce on this. Don't drink on Monday morning. You know, they didn't find that. So they found a world that was so open, a world that was so welcoming towards the side where there is no mentorship. They didn't find so much businesses being done and being started. I can tell you for sure, very few youths in this country have startups that are working. In three, four years, your startup is gone. Even one year, your startup is gone. Even if you're given a loan, loans are accessible. That's okay. But even if I give you a loan today and I don't mentor you, I don't tell you how to invest, you lose the money. Even if you are given a million today and not given a business idea, wherever you can follow a path, a certain path and move and up to where you can multiply the money to 10, 20 million, you will still lose it. So that gap that you're having, number one, we need men who are up there, 40s, 45, 50s to think about the youth. Try mentor a friend, try mentor a neighbor, try mentor a person who calls you an uncle. So that is how we started. It should start from top and now as it headed, it's headed down here. And then after that, we'll have a generation that at least understands how things are going. So that we don't have so many youths getting unemployed, crying, but even if they do start up, there's no opportunity and there's no mentorship. Okay. And the problem that, you know, what the older generation says about the youth is that this Gen Z particularly is a popcorn generation or instant coffee kind of generation. They want things instantly. So that might also apply even in leadership, you know, wanting things to just happen immediately, instantly. And maybe even with mentors, they want things to, you know, things to happen and maybe so what needs to change in the thinking of the youth that they've been watching now Gen Z. What should it be to understand? Nothing comes easy. Nothing comes fast. Bro, or my sister, nothing comes fast. There's a process to life. Even if you get it fast, it will end fast. And then life does not end on Sherehe. It doesn't end there. In fact, I think it starts there. So you'll find that also we have employed guys. I think I've employed a few people and you'll find that our generation, they give up so fast. Someone, you'll call them in the in the morning on a Monday. They didn't tell you they're resigning, but they will pick your call. So it's morning. For example, in this show, the presenter doesn't appear. You can imagine how the producer now starts now. From where do you start? So we are having such challenges and there's a barrier of communication. And then there's also this story. I don't know. They're calling you DND, whereby you cannot call. You have to text. Bro, put your phone on. People call you. You're not a billionaire. Why are you putting your phone off? And now you have to keep on texting. You ask me where you are. It is not that time. Put your phone on. Let us call you. Communicate. The problem with our generation is communication. And we are looking for peace of mind. But are you looking for peace of mind if you don't want to work? So nothing comes easily. Nothing comes fast. And when it comes fast, it is not even blessed. When it comes fast, it ends so fast. So there's a process to life. And you're 20 or 25. Bro, you still have a whole 40, 50 years ahead. So don't think life ends here. It just started. Be soft on yourself and just look for a mentor and things will be fine. All right. Amazing. And you have just said it as it is. Because many youths hide behind, especially this generation, behind I'm protecting my mental health. And it's okay to protect your mental health. But it's okay to also just walk your way up. Put in the walk. And we respect boundaries. But just be ethical in your work, ethics. And now there's this thing about I'm forgetting it. I'm almost forgetting it. The place of looking for mentors yourself, identifying mentors who might not be within your reach, but you can follow their footsteps, right? Yes. Mentorship right now is very easy. During our father's era, to get a mentor, you had to look for him physically, talk to him physically. Right now, you can look for your mentor through social media. You can look for him through all the handles that you can talk about, Facebook, Twitter. They're all over. And so it's easier to communicate. And you don't have to communicate. You have also to, you can see their structural, how they have set up their life. You can see how they have set up their emotional life, how they have set up their financial life without even meeting them. Whereby, if today you have a mentor, I can just follow them by following them and trying to check how they're operating. I can be able to get inspired by that. Because, for example, you're having an international mentor, just go to their handles and you'll start understanding how they work. I'm certainly sure that eventually you'll meet them. It doesn't have, you don't have to meet them right now. And it's a process, as we said. You'll meet them or you'll have another mentor that you also meet on the way. Yes, yes. Awesome. Amazing. Well said. Finally, I don't want you to leave. I know we've been discussing this mostly almost skewed to the political side, but now that you're in business also, how do we empower youths in this other field, in business, and even for those that are in Korea, how do they develop themselves? Kenya is a bad old country, but it operates like a second world or a first world country. I tell my friends, I tell the youth that I mentor, one income is never enough. It is never enough. You work from eight to five, it is never enough. You need some time to create your own ideologies, what you want to do after you retire, what you want to do when you're fired. You know, firing and hiring happens anytime. Hiring is a process, firing is not a process. So always know that you can be fired anytime. What do you do after that? So we have a challenge whereby if you're fired or if you lose your job right now today, I ask my friends, how long would you stay without having another job? Would you stay six months? Would you be comfortable for that long without asking for money from your friends? And know that in this life, there are only two people who can save you. It's only you and God who can save you. These are the people that are just there because of what you give, and you may not be important forever. So you have to understand that. And then also want to encourage more youth to do businesses. Start small. You cannot begin as a manager. You cannot begin after they are selling multi-multi-orders. You need to start with one, two, improve on quality, improve on quantity, and eventually you'll make it. Otherwise, if we keep on crying here that the government is not giving the used jobs, we will fail. Like now, you can see we have a challenge right now. It's unfortunate. Our neighbouring countries, we have so many, I won't mention the tribes and I won't mention the countries, but you can see we have so many migrants in this country whereby they are doing the small millennial jobs that Kenya should be doing. They are doing ladies love doing nails from the international level. Not most Kenyans are doing their nails, but you'll find that even in the barber shops, you can get someone selling coffee in this country who is not a Kenyan. I don't even understand how that system works. You'll find beggars on the street, they're not even Kenyans. Why? Because I will not go to begging other Kenyans to beg personally, but these other small businesses like coffee, doing nails, barber shops, we need the youth to get in charge. To take them out. Yeah, we need the youth of this country to take them out. These jobs have a lot of money, but no one will tell you. No one, until you get into that business when you understand it. But most of us are looking for white collar jobs. You want to get a lot of money very fast. It doesn't work that way. You have to get on your hands on and see what is really happening. That is one of the challenges that I've seen in Nairobi personally. Yes, we're having so many youths saying they don't have jobs. We're having so many youths coming in without even documentations and they're doing fine. They're doing even better than most of our youth. The youth, wow. That's amazing. You know, we ought to create the employment ourselves, create employment for ourselves and even employ others in the business world. So there's this thing, people say, oh, let me business see Ango. Do we have businesses? Okay. Are people called to business or can anyone do business? Anyone can do business. This country is so open. And like even in the political world, where you have to bear about 20,000 above, in business, you can even be 18 and start doing businesses. Most of the countries where they are so much developed, you find that a person started doing a business when they were two years. No one should lie to you that you'll start a business at 50 and now we have the same knowledge and same mentality as someone who started the same business as you're doing at 18 years old. For them, they'll have more experience. They'll have more exposure. They'll have more, they can fight more. They can be able to get more new ideas because they have a history of what has been happening. So the earlier you start, the better. When you start a business when you're a youth, you risk two things. You risk losing the business or making it in the business. And when you lose the business, you're still young. You can start another business. When you're 45, you cannot, if you start a business fails, you have to think, how will my children eat? How will they go to school? When you're a youth, you can start all over again. All over again. Yeah, we have the time. We have the time to, all that space to fail and start again to fail and started again because there's not really something that's holding you back. Yes, and failing, you'll fail. I tell my friends the same thing, and those who are mentors. Failing, you'll fail. You'll start a business today, you're 100% sure it will make it. And then boom. Two weeks down the line, you fail totally. You're starting from scratch. You have no rent. When you don't have rent or when you failed in that business and you had already moved out maybe to a better place, don't feel shy to go back to where you started. That is how the challenge is. Go back to your mom's place until now. Go back. Nobody will ask you. Well, that's the beauty of being a youth. There are so many trials. You can have so many trials and error until you get it right. Wonderful. Amazing. So this is where I want to put a close on the conversation. But let me allow you a space to say something to the youths in case you have not mentioned. This is your camera. The youth of this country, as you've said, we are still young. I've traveled a few countries, not so much, like 20 countries. And I can tell you the youth of this country are passionate. They are hardworking. They are smart. But you know that you don't have to choose the job. Make sure you choose what the job gives you. It gives you money. Do it, my brother. And then there's no instant gratification in business. It will never happen. Because one thing, if you get it fast, you'll not maintain it. Even get it with a process and slowly you'll be able to maintain it. No one should tell you education is useless. Education gives you network. Education gives you the best people that you can work with in your life. Don't give up. We have said you start it, let it fail, do it again. Fail, do it again, bro. One day you'll make it. It doesn't mean that now because you're doing it and you're doing it and you're doing it, you'll fail. You'll make it. You can follow me on Instagram. I personally handle all my social media pages and answer you and I'll give you my number. We'll talk. Okay. That's very nice of you. Where can they find you on social media? Facebook is Honrabo David Moengi. Twitter, Honrabo David Moengi. And Instagram, Honrabo David Moengi. Okay. So Honrabo David Moengi across all the social platforms. Across all the social platforms. All right. Thank you very much for coming on board and sharing this amazing insights. We hope to have you again for same or different conversations. All right. I've taken so many things from this. If you're a youth, you've been told did not choose the job, choose what the job gives you. And so many other things that you have taken from the conversation. Just step out. Step out in faith. Let's take up this position ourselves. Let's support the youth as it's. Let's support the youth. This has been an amazing conversation with Honrabo David Moengi, who's a former Nairobi Senator, aspirant 2022. Also a political commentator and youth leader. Thank you for this time that you've given us to take you through the conversation. And I've been told to read some of the comments before we close on social media because Brian Sakwa is coming up next with the next interview. And today, we just want to explore some of the great sites that we have in Kenya. What is your holiday destination? Which holiday destination would you rather go to from the ones that you have already gone? So I'll just read a few.