 Welcome back. This is why in the morning, and of course this is youth and politics coming up right about now. If at all you're just joining us, thank you so much for sticking with the Y254, your number one youth station. My name is Ramagukko. It's a pleasure being with you today. Let's talk about matters concerning youth, matters concerning you. Remember, we are now less than 24 hours to the swearing-in ceremony of the President-elect Dr. William Samoy Ruto. Together with his present deputy-elect, that is Rigadega Shah. We are looking at that particular story in a bit, and we shall take a look at the people daily. Just highlighting a few stories that are making headlines today, and of course we welcome and we invite you to join in on this particular conversation today. I am with two of my far right. I am joined by Edward Girayga. He is the President of Bunga Mwana'inchi. Thank you very much for having me once again. I'm always proud to be a 254. That's a quote to keep it real. And KBC, you know, the number one station, and this is the young side of it. So we're here to support and to ensure that the content that you have is good enough for the young people so that they can get educated and find their way through in life. Thank you so much. Next to me, I'm with Cheryl Blessing. She's a youth entrepreneur. Thank you Ram. It's a pleasure to be here. And speaking of which, it's my joy. KBC is going to be the official, and it is the official partner, the media house that shall be able to broadcast the ceremony tomorrow. No other. Yes. I'm telling you. I told you this last time. I remember I was in during the Kassarani anxiety, no Kassarani bombers during that day that there was an announcement on the 15th. I was lucky to be hosted at the KBC station, Chalewan. And I told them they're the best station. And it's because of a lot of monopoly that has been there before. And private sector kind of been very fast and having enough money. So I'm sure this time round it's getting that right to air the inauguration and the new government coming in. It's very optimistic that KBC will go back to its old glory days. So it's a good thing. Proud to be KBC. And remember we are using the hashtag at the great KBC. That is the hashtag, the great KBC. If earlier you're tweeting, enjoy that. You're also using the hashtag why in the morning. And the great KBC is the hashtag because that is what we are going to make trend. What are the stones that the bill has rejected? Yes. You know what I mean? Did you see that that that that viral quote? It was going around. And it's sensational because also William Ruto was like that kind of stone that was rejected by the so called big brother. But he's now come out to be the cornerstone of this country. And KBC will be right there behind it. I sound like an anchor. Because you welcome your feedback in regards to this particular discussion tag me at Ramagukko. That is my handle. The official session is at Y254 channel. And ensure that you head over to our Facebook page. You have a question of the day. Like the page. Follow us on that particular platform. And of course we shall be able to sample your feedback even as you continue with this morning conversation. Let us know where you're watching us from and give us your thoughts in regards to this particular issues that we shall be able to discuss this fine Monday morning. It is all about youth and politics. And of course, let's take a look at the people daily. On my particular paper, we are going to page four of this paper where we are looking at the tough journey ahead of the President-elect inauguration. Because here we are looking at within the next 24 hours to go before the President-elect William Brutow is sworn into office. His in-tree is full already. And we are looking at a raft of expectations from all Kenyans, from the public, and a myriad of problems that he has to address. He during his campaign was talking about the bottom up. Now even as he supports us, supports strong the Kasarani sports complex tomorrow to receive the, you know, to watch this particular event. And of course, even as they are going to go there to receive the instruments of power from the outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta, the Dr. Brutow will be worried about anxious supporters who expect him to walk the talk and deliver on the many promises that he made during his campaigns. And the question is, will he deliver? Bottom up approach, will he deliver? Sheryl, you're totally in the grasp of that. Do you think that he will deliver now that we're looking at it tomorrow? Because after this hearing in, Kazina answer. I think he painted a very beautiful picture, especially in a nation where so many people are depending on micro businesses. There are so many hustlers out there. And the fact that he decided to come up with the bottoms up economy, it's a very good policy. And there's a chance he might deliver. There's a chance. Yes. It will be all work and not talk. I think he is a hustler because he started, he's not, he did not start as a well off man. He started from the bottom and he built himself up and he has recognized that micro businesses have really played a role in the Kenyan economy. So I think if he does support them, it will help even with the, with the loan that we have as a country. So he might deliver. He's talked about releasing 50 billion, which he'll also give to businesses in terms of loans with a small interest. So I think he might deliver on some of the pros. People criticize the bottom up, saying that it did not work in other jurisdictions. Why would it work in Kenya? Do you think this will work here? I don't think it's been working in other jurisdictions. It may have had challenges, but every country has its own peculiar situation. Like in Kenya, indeed, this is needed. The bottom up is needed. Like you can see from the colonial days, right? Slums, ghettos were created because the white plantations that were established by the British colonialists had to employ people or enslave people or use forced labor. And where they slept or where they resided was, you know, like that's how the slums came in, because it was just informal. So you can see that kind of thing has been, discrimination has always been there. So when he talks about bottom up, it's really an African renaissance kind of thematic way he's talking about. It's not global in its perspective. It's African in its perspective, because the African, the Kenyan has suffered for many, many years. He's been colonized. He's been enslaved. He's gone through regimes that have never thought of him, regimes in our government that have always looked at big business that have always looked at the macro side of business, macro side of things, you know, even when you talk about investing in our budgetary, fiscal plan. It's always been about the machinery, the big projects, but never human based, never human capital based. Never thinking about when you mentioned about the 50 billion. 50 billion being pumped into a Hassler fund will mean that millions of Kenyans will have impact from that money. And what bottom up does is the social upliftment and the economic empowerment, because already Kenyans as we are today, if it's not for Kenyans who are in business, if it's not for Kenyans who are employed, if it's not for Kenyans who run industries, Kenya would not be standing. It is the Kenyans who pay the taxes. But what has happened is the government has had a kind of backward way of doing things. I remember what William Rooto was saying yesterday about how he spoke to the KRA, that the way they collect revenue needs to change, the approach they have towards business people. I mean, how can you be employed in your paying 35% of income tax of what you earn, pay as you earn. And you have rent to pay, your child can get sick, your mother at home can be sick, you have COVID came. So KRA needs to understand that it's a Kenyan institution that is serving Kenyans. And the only reason why these other countries like Singapore, the Asian Tigers grew, yes they did increase on their collection, but the other thing that bottom up and where they need to get their money is to look at the mineral resources that we have in this country. I'm looking at what Rooto said. Yes, you've addressed the issue of KRA, and he was talking about this particular issue, and he said that Kenyans must pay taxes. Indeed. Because we're looking at a debt of over 10 trillion Kenyan shillings, and we must pay taxes. But now I'm drawn to the high cost of living. I'm drawn to the issue of increased in fuel prices. And we may see this come up by Wednesday, if I'm not wrong, Wednesday. Fuel prices might increase. I'm looking at the prices of Ungar. I'm looking at the high cost of living that Kenyans have been talking about and whether it would be able to be addressed. Yes, you can look at like all this has come because of various factors. From the beginning and from onset, when the former government that is outgoing right now came up with a subsidy program, we did not support it as bungalow anainchi, but it was meant to help them on anainchi. But in the end of the day, even when you look at right now how many billions that have been paid in that subsidy to market us. We have a government, we need William Ruto's government to negotiate with countries that want to give us oil at a cheap price. If it is going to Russia, let us go to Russia. Get our oil at a cheap price because mwana'inchi has to stop paying expensive because you can even understand about the landing costs of fuel. The same government has to reduce the landing cost of fuel. And also we need to upgrade. The bottom map cannot work if we don't upgrade the refinery in Mombasa so that we get crude oil and refine it for our own consumption. And we also have to get investors to go to Turkana. Right now the bottom map is not for us to look outside anymore. It's for us to look for self-sustainability in our country. Cheryl, you thought of the same? I like what you've said because if we focus on our own industries, if we localize a lot of the production, it will cut down most of the costs because even the issue of maize, we have a lot of this but then the farmers are not being supported. That's why all the costs are rising up. So if we localize and support the local industries, refine them such that we can be self-sustainable as a country, then it's very possible to clear the debt, to reduce cost of living and for every person to benefit from the economy of Kenya because as it stands, so many people are struggling to make ends meet. So you earn something from a buyer or if you're a border guy, the rider pays you and then you have to pay for fuel. So that's just hand-to-mouth. It's really not sustaining us and people will not pay taxes if they don't have money to pay taxes. Well during the campaign period, we had the government that was working with millers during this time to bring down the cost of maize flour to 100 shillings for 10 kg packet through a subsidy program that was there. And of course since the election, however, the cost has gone back to between 230 shillings to 250 shillings per packet. And now during his campaign, Ruto also promised to lower the fertilizer prices from 6,000 to 2,500. Now I'm looking at the logic in regards to this because I'm looking at what the government did and what actually happened here, where we are and what Dr. Ruto is actually promising. Is it realistic? Yes, it is very realistic because first of all, if you read clearly what he said in his manifesto, it's investment in production whereby what we are having now subsidizing the miller is the wrong way of doing things. That's the end, that's the value of the show. The miller is not the farmer. He didn't produce it. And if you look at how much the miller paid the farmer, it's zero. It's negligible. You understand? So what William Ruto was saying is that he will come and invest his money in subsidizing for production so that we can increase our production. Let me tell you, we have so much arable land in this country that we haven't even touched. And then he talks about investing in irrigation because we've seen like in the last two years, rains have failed. So therefore we need to invest in dams and irrigation schemes so that we can have production all throughout the year. The maize, can you imagine we're importing maize from Malawi? If you look at the GDP of Malawi and Kenya, which is greater, Kenya, isn't it? But we are failing all the money, like for example, all the money that we get as foreign exchange goes back out because we have to buy the maize. Instead of us having those reserves for a rainy day, like COVID, so that that money can then be used to buy the COVID medication or the emergency support that we need. So I believe that William Ruto is looking at this whole aspect of running the country the way it was. It will be now upside down and the right way up. You know, it will be the right way up because it's from understanding and I remember, you remember very well, and the best example is this is having the 47 county economic forums that he did. He has business intelligence. He has social issues. He has everything that every community and county needs and wants and where it is. It's like a SWOT analysis that he did. So immediately he comes in. It's just twitching things and things start flowing seamlessly. Yeah. And with the support of the Moana Inchi and I want to tell you Moana Inchi is ready to invest. I like what he said yesterday. This is an idea we took ourselves as young people to the state house. We met even, we were supposed to meet Mr. Kenyua so that he can awaken the consciousness of the president when during COVID-19 we came up with something called COVID recovery plan for the youth, economic recovery. Because we believe that the youth would have the muscle, however little, to help the government. And on the same breath, we are talking about the youth. Let's talk about unemployment issue. Youth are looking forward to some loans to help them. And of course Dr. Ruto had promised a few of these things because there is a program that will loan youth, you know, give youth loans with the low interest of 5% per year. And they are looking at the, you know, low rates, giving it to, you know, making life easier for the Mamamboga and the unemployed youth to be able to, you know, bring themselves up. Do you believe that the issue of unemployment will be tackled as promised by Dr. William Ruto? If he actually follows through with his plans and starts from the ground because once you, once you start with the farmers, once you start with the producers, then it's possible to create even opportunities for more people to come in. What's missing right now is there are not as many opportunities, so people have to create their own opportunities. And then these opportunities that they've now come up with, they're not being supported. So if we can support the opportunities that people have created, the small businesses, then it's very possible to create more channels of employment. If I personally decide to set up a business and I get a loan, which allows me to employ two more people, that creates employment. So eventually it's going to reduce the rate of unemployment, which has been increasing since 2019. So if issues are addressed from the very bottom and that is tackled, if he actually goes to the ground and decides to help the local people, then it's very possible to tackle all of these issues. There's something called the Hustlers Fund. Hustlers Fund that is going to be established. And I love the fact that we are looking at Hustlers Funds that they are looking at establishing it within the first 100 days. Realistic? Very realistic. Unemployment already solved. No, look, unemployment was not an issue that came up in a day. Even all governments have grappled with unemployment factor. And globally it is said that we have a youth bulge. So there's an increase of numbers in terms of demography of young people globally. So it's not just a Kenyan situation, it's a global situation, the unemployment issue. But coming back home, I would like to urge young people, organize yourself. If you're in any county, go and look for the county economic forum that UDA or Kenya-Kwanzaa held and find out what are those things that people saw as economic activity or the agricultural activity or the social activity or the needs that people need to solve themselves. Position yourself among those county visions. Because you see, we always depend on national government and forget that 35 percent or 15 percent thereabouts goes to the county governments. So that then this Moana Inchi, the young person on the ground, can be able to get themselves. As in bungalow and Inchi, what we've done, we've come up with various programs. There's capacity building programs, which are basically targeting youth who are employed, I mean unemployed. In this sense, young people have been devastated by COVID-19 and economic hardship. And most of them lost their jobs, you remember, during COVID. And even those who had businesses suffered. So within bungalow and Inchi at Givengy we'll be having a help desk where young people can come and they can be helped how to make their CV and not just their CV. We can reorganize their career. For example, if it's a person who has some skills, technical skills, we will organize for them a profile and link them to private sector and public sector through the county government and national government. And these are the channels that the only way that bottom up can work. Because even William Ruto, when he was campaigning, like you mentioned, he was talking about the Mamambogas. He wasn't talking about a partnership with himself or coming from the top and that's the wrong way trickle down. No. It's now us, we're the ones who are going to spur this economic development. We're no longer going to look at with empty plates begging for droplets to be dropped. No, the economy has to come from the ground. And therefore, as in bungalow and Inchi, we're also going to establish an entrepreneurship and innovation hub. Because we've realized by the bulge of the youth that we have in this country, that means most of them are educated. I can tell you 80% of young people in this nation have one form of education or another. And actually maybe 20, 30% have gone tertiary, right? 50% have done technical training. So these are people with skills, but these skills are misplaced. These skills are not connecting with the right jobs. So we've realized that because there are no jobs, we need to be self-employed. In bungalow and Inchi, we will be able to have this innovation and employment hub so that the young people who have these skills can come and change their skills into entrepreneurship, into enterprises. Now, let me, that's a good thing. And I'll come back to you because you've touched on so many key areas that I'd like you to touch on. But Cheryl, as a youth, just give it all, the all personal feeling here. Do you feel, how do you feel about tomorrow? We're looking at the swearing in ceremony of Dr. Ruto and the instruments of power going to be transferred from President Wuru Kenyatta to Dr. Ruto. Do you feel like the country is now having brighter days ahead? And there is light at the end of the tunnel. As a young person, unemployment, unemployment, the economy, come on youth. The truth is I feel skeptical because as a country, we have been in a dark tunnel for a long time, a very long time. So every time a new leader comes in, they have these promises, they have plans in place, but we don't always see the plans being put into place or there's no action that's taken after all the words have been spoken. So I'm a bit skeptical and I'm waiting to see because if you notice even with the elections, half of the people, so many voters did not actually go to vote and these people share the same sentiment as me because we got to a point where we gave up and now it's up to us. We should not rely on the leadership. So like he is saying, it's up to us to be informed. It's up to me to know what channels I can get help from and how I can grow myself personally without relying on my leaders or whatever government is in place. So I'm waiting to see. Quite honestly, I'm reserving my opinions up until the 100 days are done. Then I can see what the new government comes up with. But as I stand right now, I'm very skeptical and it's just- You don't know what to expect. I don't know what to expect. Quite honestly, yes. I think there will be progress because you can see that William Ruto has a vision and a vision that he believes in very much to an extent of winning the election and having even the IBC announce him and having even the seven judges declare his win as a legal. So this is a man who is determined and nothing will stop him to see that Kenya changes and reaches to the levels that it's supposed to reach. I mean, I want to talk about as well issues of economic recovery. He has to spar trade and has to open the country in this sense. In the last 10 years of the Jubilee government, we've signed over, I think, 300 bilaterals. These bilaterals are trade agreements, economic agreements, social impact agreements in terms of, let's say, you need social support or like maybe we have food hunger and stuff like that. Some are technological bilaterals in the foreign affairs. What William Ruto needs to do is come up with a bilateral program that opens up all these bilaterals and turns these bilaterals into opportunities for Kenyans. So for example, if it's in agriculture, like what we had with our Goa trade agreement, we need to make and enable Kenyans to know that if they can produce, they can export. And if they can export, they can earn more because the dollar is now at 130 or thereabouts. So we should be working hard to earn the dollar so that what we sell out there, we earn the dollar so that our economy can also rise. But what we are doing is opposite, sir, if you may give me a chance. Our economy is based on input economy. And I would like to challenge his Excellency William Samoy Ruto. I know he's watching Y254, of course. Look at Nyao Pioneer at the numerical machine complex. One of the organizations that we work with, vision 2030 youth entrepreneurs, is working to establish something called the bullet gembe. But when we visited the numerical machine complex as that organization, we found the Nyao Pioneer put in a closet dusted, a project that would have seen us have our own vehicles today instead of importing the Toyota's, the Suzuki's and make and all these American European brands and making us depend on them. And yet again, buying that car is not, it's our shielding that we'll have to convert into dollars to import that car. So I'm adding his Excellency, go and awaken the Nyao Pioneer project and let us see Kenya produce. And this would be a good example. Remember the patriotism that Nyao Pioneer gave Kenyans, a self-belonging. All right. And Edward, I want us to bring this conversation to a close. And of course, we're saying that tomorrow, remember, we are proud as Y254 TV that the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation is going to share or broadcast the live feed or the live inauguration of the present presidential inauguration ceremony, the swearing-in ceremony of Dr. William Brutal, taking place tomorrow. We are looking forward to a lot after that particular event and we're also looking forward to his speech. What is the doctor going to say? What are his priorities set for tomorrow? But as we bring this to a close, maybe I can give you a time to have a final word, Sheryl. What will be your parting shot as we bring this to a close? Let's have hope in the new government and let the government do something. Let the county governors let the president who's about to be sworn in actually do something for the youth because the youth are the future of Kenya and our economy relies on the micro-businesses. If we focus on that, then Kenya is going to go to a very different place. All right. Thank you so much. Edward, I'm coming to you to have a final word. But before that, let me say congratulations. Thank you. You got sworn in as the president of Bungala Munaichi. Congratulations on that. Thank you very much. For me, basically, we want to work with his Excellency William Samoeruto. We respect the man for what he has been able to achieve. I believe he has made modern history by showing that anything that a man can put his mind to and be organized, he can be able to achieve. What I would like William Ruto to speak on his first speech is number one, the issues of unemployment. The unemployment issue has been so much ravaging our people. I mean, at Bungala Munaichi, where it was called Jobless Corner from the 80s and 90s, from way back even since Jubilee came, Kenyans have been unemployed and are employed for a long time. William Ruto have intentional means of creating and stimulating employment in this country. The other thing I would like to recall is that you spar entrepreneurship. We know that you came in highly speaking about the young border-border rider, the Mamamboga on the street, and all the other traders who are trading in this country. Let the Hassler Fund reach these people, because even you know we've had youth fund, WESO fund, women's fund, which have all done good enough, but they have not solved the problems on the ground. So apart from just giving them the money and enabling them, also look at solving their social problems such as housing, health matters, issues to do with access to rights and justice. These are very, very important things, and this is what that's going to make Kenya grow together. And so that everybody in this country, like my sister said here, we are looking forward to benefiting from this government, and not just benefiting from any handouts. No, we expect that this country will be corruption-free. We like what you said yesterday about the cartels which have destroyed and devastated the industry of agriculture by having brokers and cartels and all that. We're also urging you to look into this Saudi Arabia issue. Us as Bungalow Nainchi, we are taking our petition to the National Employment Agency, and also we're taking it to the Ministry of Labour. Why are they registering these agencies that are enslaving our people? And especially our women. Our women in Kenya, his Excellency Ruto, need to be protected. And shout out to all my friends and my fans at Bungalow Nainchi. We don't have to start yet another discussion, but we shall talk about those. That was meant to be in the speech. I hope you can say it like, you know, when we see Kenyans go abroad and they, you know, they suffer slavery, that should be in his speech. Yeah, he should give us confidence and give those Kenyans out there who are suffering to know that the president is there and he hears their cry. But where? Let's move this discussion to a close, and I want to say a big thanks to Cheryl. Thank you so much for coming. Thank you for having me. Thank you so much Edward for coming. You're welcome, sir. Thank you so much. And of course I want to thank everybody that ensured this show was a success. Thank you so much for tuning in and being part of this discussion. It has been all about matters concerning youth and politics. And as I said earlier on tomorrow, we are looking at the swearing in ceremony of Dr. William Ruto. We are looking at the transfer of powers from President Uru Kinyata to the President-elect Dr. William Ruto. What are your expectations in terms of his speech, his delivery? First 100 days, you talk to me. The hashtag is one in the morning. I try to fit for channel and my handle at Ram Aguco. Of course, thank you so much for tuning in. We are taking a short break. We still have more coming up your way. My name is Ram Aguco. This has been youth and politics. This is one in the morning. Take a short break. We'll be back in a bit.