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and Eric latiff from the standard Media Group and it’s my colleague Lena Sky Kai who’s going to go with the first question of this interview thank you your Excellency the hashtag out there is rut must go doesn’t need much interpretation does it protesters want you out of office how do you respond to that everybody is entitled to their opinion um I have a job to do we are a country of uh rules uh we are constitutional democracy and um citizens because we all enjoy the freedom of speech freedom of thought uh citizens are free to uh engage in discourse that uh uh they want to uh but that is what it is that is those are the fruits and signs of a democracy but this is this is no ordinary discourse Mr President over 20 people are dead 39 are missing through State uh driven abductions and first they’re asking a very simple question 24 people dead your Excellency do you have blood on your hands I have no blood on my hands 19 people to the record that I have from the security agencies added very unfortunate um as a democracy that should not be part of our conversation 2.4 billion of property has been destroyed the office of the chief justice has been bned City Hall has been burned Parliament has been bned that that is the situation let turn lives let’s have let’s turn lives 19 let’s stay on Liv your Excellency we have I said 24 you said 19 let’s stay on lives and number two your Excellency on abductions your Excellency let’s stay on lives there are people who are burying their children whether they’re 19 or 24 and they’re watching now and they want to see how you feel about the debts give us your feelings your Excellency let me tell you and they could give examples your Excellency there is a 12-year-old boy Kenn Kennedy onyango from ranga whose mother narrated how his boy was basically just going to get books for his school work there is Rex MSI who was shot in the middle of the street in Nairobi and these are real human beings don’t you feel a sense of responsibility for what is going on in the country let me tell you the following any life that is lost is something that must bother anybody beginning with myself and it is the reason why I have told you that when I came into office I said three things number one I said there will be no extra judicial killing in Kenya that’s number one and I have made sure that there is no extra judicial killing in Kenya that’s number one number two when I came into office I said I want an independent Police Service and I did sign the necessary instruments so that the police does not need permission does not need Authority and does not report to the office of the president the the police operational Financial Independence I have made sure that the police don’t have to ask me don’t ask to have ask anybody they operate independently and number four it is true that children got into situations that they were they became victims of uh of of the demonstrations what started to all of us and I have spoken about it I have said the young people who have stepped forward to engage in the political discourse of their country in a peaceful manner tribess are a welcome development in Kenya that I said but let me also say the following these great young people who have stepped forward to prosecute their agenda the Affairs of the country I am certain that they did not B Parliament criminals and other agents who took advantage over legitimate concern of Kenyans stepped in went and banned the chief justice Office went and banned city hall went and burned Parliament and destroyed property of innocent citizens the parents the parents Mr President what are you telling them these things haveen under your I am telling I am telling every parent I have kids like they do and I care when there are issues in town where criminals can take advantage of situations and create a situation where the police have to use rubber bullets the police have to use life bullets in some cases because that is what an independent Police Service has to do and I am sure the police have a record and have an explanation for every incident that they were engaged in Mr pres the incident Mr President this boy 12 year old took eight bullets eight bullets into the body of a 8 year of a 12 year old boy what would you tell the mother of that boy that boy is alive right no it’s not Kennedy onyango died he died so he the one who died yes so you’re not talking about the the person who was shot with rubber bullets no no yeah shot with bullets eight times let me let me tell you in gong this is the situation in gong right in gong there was an incident where the police were overpowered by criminals they took um firearm from the police they used that firearm against people and one policeman had to shoot this fellow who had hijacked a gun from a policeman so that not to endanger the lives of more citizens it is among the three people one of the criminals is among the three people who was shot by the the police after they overpowered the police and took the bullet and and took the gun from the police and used it against innocent citizens I cannot confirm to you that this is not the man that shot the child but investigations are going on and we will get to the bottom of it I am telling the mother of this young person that I as president will make sure that finally I will give her an explanation of what really happened and make sure that we bring this to a situation where like her like myself who have children she too can be her child can be accounted for Mr President the Kenya National Commission on human rights is the one that has accounted for 24 bodies lying in mogs and those bodies the records show that these people either died in hos hospital and while undergoing treatment for gunshot wounds or they ended up in the MOG in the last two weeks with gunshot wounds 24 this 24 Mr President are you saying that the security agencies have told you that these 24 were criminals that these 24 were armed they were posing a danger to the police officers and that is what necessitated the police to use live bullets on them because the circumstances for the police of offic to use a live bullet is clear even in their own code of operations it is when the life of that police officer is in danger or when somebody else’s life is clearly in danger and the person who is endangering that person is armed while the 24 armed did they pose a danger a direct threat to the police two things the same Kenya Human Rights Commission national commissioner Kenya national commissioner the government agency yeah the government agency yes told the nation that there was a massacre in gay and 20 people were killed in Kay were 20 people killed in Kay really the Kenya National Commission on human rights does not have records of 20 people no but but that’s their statement it is it is a statement that is public you know so the same Kenya human rights Kenya commission human National National Human Rights Commission told the country a blatant fake news falsehood that there a mass let me let me you ask me a question allow me to answer yes they that’s what they told the country so an organization that can tell the country without verify that there was a massacre in Kay in fact BBC on that account went to investigate in G and of course you know you have read BBC has said there was no massacre in G Mr President there was one person who was shot by the police let me let me let me answer yeah so an organization that is as Reckless as to say there was a massacre when there was none now is telling us there are 24 the police are saying 19 we will we will find out where the number Bazar but that is The credibility of the organization that you tell that may well be let me let me also question that L can follow up the people who died yeah that’s where I’m going why they at danger that’s that’s where I’m coming are they the criminals that you’re talking about let me tell you two things there will be an investigation on how these 19 Kenyans died there will be a clarity an explanation for each and everyone of them I have told you one situation where somebody accosted the police took over the firearm started to shoot at people endangering the lives of many other Kenyans he was shot by the police there is a situation in Parliament how did the invad US in Parliament they invaded Parliament and went straight for the Armory at the melum they went straight at the Armory at the sergeant at’s office those are the investigations that we will get into and a proper explanation will be given to the country are weapons lost what I am saying are the weapons are the Amar and the bosum and inside Parliament that is why that is why there will be an investigation of how these armar were attacked and were there how did these people know that there was an Armory in Parliament Mr President you may you may not believe the Kenya National Commission on human rights but surely you would believe your own Deputy who has said there’s been a return to extrajudicial killings and abductions contrary to what you and him promise the people of Kenya let me tell you I am the President and I speak for the government of Kenya right and so this is my this is what I’m telling you I made three commitments that I will make sure the police is independent and I did that on my first day in office number two I said there will be no extra judicial killing in Kenya I have kept my my my promise number three I have told you that if there is any arrest by the police that does not amount to an abduction in my very honest let’s pause for a moment uh Mr President and I just want us to go to that video over there which will’ll play on there and uh let’s post and watch it together your Excellency let’s watch this video sell them to the people of Kenya there are enough intelligent people in Kenya to differentiate what is good [Music] and to these people don’t understand the damage they are doing to the people and the economy of Kenya all right all right yeah yes the the video in uh contention here is was recorded earlier today yes that of former MP Alfred ker being abducted in broad daylight Mr President before you even talk about the entire incident the children were screaming and a sound that we believe belongs to the wife was also heard screaming in distress how does that make you feel three things I have told you I made a deliberate decision to make sure that the police operate independently that’s number one number two I have told you if the police summon lenos Kai and lenos Kai refuses to go to the police are the police not entitled to come and look for you when the police come to arrest you after they have summoned you and you didn’t show up is that an abduction so let’s have this as a confirm that let’s have this as a confirmation your Excellency that Alfred was summoned by police he refused to police have issued a statement I I would suggest instead of us having a back and forth the police have released a statement can you check what the police the police have released the statement and you still not answered my question the wife and children screaming that way I mean how do you feel your your Excellency I mean my friend every every child every mother feels the same when their parent is under attack I mean it is that is what it is but let me ask you what about the children what about the children of those who have lost their lives because of the criminality of others don’t they feel the same so we we just need to be a country of the rule of law impunity Cuts both ways those who respect the law must be protected by the law those who do not respect the law must face the full force of the law that that’s how it oper that’s how we will have a society here is a same way we must condemn excessive use of police Powers but we must equally deal firly and decisively with criminals who put the lives of other Kenyans in danger destroy property of hard and earnings there are many people Liners in this in this demonstration that have lost livelihoods that today their children are crying today they wives are in tears because they don’t know how how to Face Tomorrow Mr President their businesses have been wiped out their incomes have been destroyed I have just told you 2.4 billion Shillings worth of business has been destroyed and today as I talked to you this evening there are families who have tears there are families who do not know how to face tomorrow and and I’ve asked you very specifically president how do you feel about those tears especially those who have been it’s horrible by police bullets it is horrible it is horrible when you find a situation where people are grieving whether they are grieving because their parents have been arrested or they are grieving because they hard hand earnings of many years money there I have I have on my phone people who are saying I borrowed money my whole loan has been wiped out my whole barers shop has been destroyed my whole Hardware has been looted and burnt and they are in tears so I must equally work with the police to protect all these citizens and and it cuts both ways loners it cuts both ways using the rule of law absolutely let me take you to just step by step absolutely the rule of La R of law says the rule of law requires the police to investigate about to when they have sufficient evidence present that to the odpp the director of public persecutions takes people who are culpable to court that’s the journey in the rule of law Mr President mhm in the case of 39 people who have been abducted and the abduction here we’re using it deliberately because of the manner in which the people have been arrested like we’ve seen in the case of Alfred CER others who’ve been picked up from their houses in the middle of the night and they are held in communicado for more than 24 hours outside of what the the rule of law says and then they are not taken to court so they are not charged with anything that is outside of the rule of law so in one instance here we saying we are not following the rule of law in the second instance Mr President you have people who were unarmed like in the case of Rex who was shot in the middle of the the night unarmed who have been shot by police and they’ve ended up dead 24 of them you say 19 that again is extrajudicial because there is no justification that has been produced to show that there was justification for the police to use the excessive force so basically we showing examples where the rule of law which you promised to uphold which also said set and said this is what the police has been doing and you said Mr President um as as you took office that the problems with the Police Service also are going to the top the leadership of the police service and you promised the people of Kenya that you’re going to hold the police to account outside of the rule of law and accountability which comes to your desk are you holding the police accountable for 39 people abducted for 24 people killed for 627 people arrested and not charged for 431 people injured by life bullets rubber bullets tear gas cars police batons uh latiff as I have told you we must operate within the parameters of the rule of law and I agree with you the police must never act outside the framework of the rule of law they must do that which only the Constitution and the law allows them to do and it is very clear that any operation of the police outside the parameters of the law the police will be held to account whether it is uh holding citizens Beyond the stipulated time but I must be thoroughly clear to you when police arrest somebody there is a constitutional timeline which they are allowed by the law to hold that person 24 that does not amount to an abduction 24 hours in my in my opinion a casing point is what has just been said here about uh what happened earlier today and you guys has clearly said in this conference that it was an abduction I mean it it’s just clear now that it is not an abduction not this this is this is this is this is an arrest and the police have come forward to say this is the situation we have arrested this person and it is it is just good for us to all of us follow the law and and I agree with you the police must act within the law but let me ask you one question also lative I have never in this conversation which is now 20 minutes in are you guys bothered about the fact that Parliament was burnt are you guys concerned that millions of businesses of Kenyans hardworking Kenyans we are were destroyed how do you feel but it how do you and it all happened under your watch Mr President but this is this is why we are saying You must be even you know we must be even the police have a difficult job they have to make sure the peaceful demonstrators are protected but they also must make sure that the criminals and and when you say criminals you know when I say the other day criminals many people took offense that I was calling the demonstrators criminals that’s not of the Dead your Excell take a lot of offense family of Rex Rex was killed in a week when the protesters were very peaceful the first week of this protest were peaceful we saw protesters carrying carrying uh and water bottles water bottles Rex was killed on his way out of work let me let me let me tell how do you feel I mean when they hear you say criminals I mean are you are you telling me Rex is the one who broke who burned Parliament but Rex died without breaking no I’m just telling you he died there there are criminals who infiltrated and costed Mayhem and in fact some of the criminals are actually harmed they actually harmed the peaceful protesters many of the peaceful protesters they lost phones they were attacked in fact some of the uh peaceful protesters were attacked by criminals including ining a clear example of the one I have I have I have explained to you that they overpowered the police took the gun from the police and started shooting innocent people so we must deal with this situation globally Mr President I feel for Rex and the mother this should not happen to any child in Kenya especially when they are engaged in a peaceful demonstration Mr President the concern I’ve heard from the young people because I’ve been speaking a lot of them and they said they haven’t heard you in the two statements actually there are more now because you have spoken in other settings apart from the two addresses you gave they haven’t had you address them they haven’t had you talk to these parents they haven’t had you acknowledge that they were people who were shot by police in circumstances that did not warrant that are you saying you haven’t seen anything that bothers you about how police responded to this protest I am very and I have and and in my first statement I clearly said that innocent lives were lost in my second statement I said the same there were innocent lives lost but also equally as a person who is responsible I must think about those who are suffering because they were innocent but I’m also I must also be concerned about those who are suffering because criminals caus them immense harm and and that is the balance that I need to be able to lead a country I must protect everybody I must protect the protesters and I must be concerned about their lives I must also uh protect innocent people who become victims of criminals who take advantage of a peaceful Democratic process that goes on in afri do you feel that you protected all those people on in the last couple of days whether it is people who have businesses whether it is Parliament whether it is the people who lost their children I did I did my best if I if I hadn’t done what I did things would have been much worse in fact many people ask me Mr President why did you call in the Army I mean what choice did I have I mean it would have been very Reckless of me in the face of the kind of harm people had gone through the 2019 lives that were already already lost in the face of a burning uh chief justice Office um Parliament and and the rest of it I mean it would have been very Reckless of me not to mobilize every arm of government and every arm of our security agencies to protect the country and to protect lives you acted as commanderin-chief you also acted as president head of government and the person who took the sword and promised to protect the people people of Kenya you chair the National Security Council which brings in the head of the police the head of the intelligence the head of the military and cabinet secretaries in those do dockets did you have information prior to Tuesday that there was going to be infiltration of the peaceful demonstrations by the criminal elements that you’ve talked about more than once and if you did what did you do about it we had information and that is why we prepared in the manner in which we did if we hadn’t prepared in the manner in which we did we would not be counting 19 we would be counting different numbers okay and I am telling you that the level of mobilization by criminals was Heavy in fact many of the peaceful protesters many of the young people very well-meaning young people left town by 10 maybe 11 because they realized and in fact you could hear them in their in their in their in their Z they were saying guys we are this this is not our this is not our group let us go let us leave you could hear them it it was in public domain that the peaceful demonstrators all of a sudden realized that the whole thing had met a for into into criminality so there are criminal elements that basically hijacked so Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday it is Sunday Mr President how many people are in custody on account of this those who you said they conducted treason activities they were criminal elements they um you will see them in court tomorrow how many people are in custody you will see them in court tomorrow the police know what I I have a you know a ballpack uh brief by the police that they have enough people they have actually because in Kenya nowadays you cannot commit crime and get away with it those who attacked parliament are on CCTV Those Who attack the Judiciary are on CCTV those who attacked everywhere those who destroyed people’s shops are on CCTV many of them are on the run but we will catch them similarly your Excellency similarly excellenc similarly so so to your question so the police are at it because if we don’t deal with impunity we we will not have a country now similarly you Excellency you speak of them protesters being on CCTV not the protesters I’m saying the criminals who attacked Parliament right now every policeman also without uniform conducted an abduction has also been captured on camera those who captured Shad kiprono were captured on camera those who captured Alfred ker today were captured on camera and a number of other such incidents similarly so that because I can hear you balancing yes uh that’s correct yes are we going to see action against the killer cops or were they doing what you’re saying you had to do to prevent this from being bad any killer cop who went beyond what is provided for in the law will action will be taken against them but to your question are you telling me lers that a police officer becomes only a police officer when they in uniform no police officers can identify themselves even when they are in civilian so and and and when a police officer comes to you and says this is my ID I am police officer you are under arrest for the following reasons that that that is legitimate you you cannot tell me that because they were in civilian then what they did was wrong and you know that’s not what they do and that’s not how they to ALF or Shad Kono were you there you have the we have the CCTV footage it’s there I would I would suggest L that we be fair to the police as well and I have given you my word any police officer who does anything beyond the provisions of the law know the consequences just as any citizen who also participates in actions that are outside the law they also know the consequences and it is our responsibility to make sure that security agencies act in accordance with the law us as Citizens we act in accordance with the law so that we can have a law abiding rules based uh rule of law based country as things start now Mr President are you satisfied with how the police handled this whole matter I think the police have done the best they could if there are any excesses we have mechanisms to make sure that those excesses are dealt with let’s rra it this to your Excellency on that topic you have absolutely no regrets about the abductions and no regrets about the killings those are your words those are not mine they also your deputies words don’t put don’t put words in my mouth they also your deputies words at least part of your government because it’s so scary Mr President sitting there and telling the whole country that from this moment on we should not believe what your Deputy tells us about the state of the nation until you speak yet we all thought that you’re part of the C government don’t don’t don’t inject my Deputy into this conversation I think it is not fair since he’s not here to tell you in what context he said whatever he said I think it is it is not proper to discuss the deputy president here and he’s my Deputy please let me deal but have you asked him that you h a press conference deal with the issues as they are now I think uh being personal and and going that direction does not help I I wish this was personal Mr President but it’s a really serious national issue that right after you spoke your Deputy told the whole world that he was informing us that extrajudicial killings and abductions had returned to this government that he’s part of how surely can that be personal Mr presid I am I am sure that if you interview the deputy president he will answer that appropriately you haven’t asked take it you can take it from me that extrajudicial killing with will not be part of an Administration that I run I can say that without Fe contradiction yes in the interest of moving this conversation forward your Excellency I want us to look into the last two extraordinary weeks that this country has had protests that you called tribess and some of your uh AIDS called leaderless but protests that are led by young people who are unhappy with how you’ve run this country for the last uh just under two years two two years now but the question they have as you they look at you and watch as you speak today your Excellency do you get it I get it let me tell you let me tell you uh my good friend lers what we are facing today is not a product of two years what we are facing today is a product of many years we’ve had a problem a youth bulge a demographic challenge as a nation which we have ignored for very long for the first time I have decided that I am going to be deliberate I am going to be intentional on tackling the challenge of young people and unemployment in Kenya first time there is an Administration that thinks about the young people let me give you three examples maybe four well let’s keep it within the two weeks please no no it’s okay is the two weeks you know but you know don’t look at the two weeks in isolation the young people we have in the street did not happen in the last two weeks they were not born when I became president they were not jobless when I became they were not they did not become jobless when I became president but I want these are young people who over the years we have thousand we have close to 4 and a half million young people who are out of school out of college with degrees certificates diplomas without jobs and that is why I have done four things number one when I pushed the housing program it was not about the houses it was about the jobs today as I talk to you lers we have 160,000 young people working in different parts of Kenya under our housing program in mukuru here in Nairobi and I challenge you lenus to go there tomorrow there are close to 4,000 young people working who are jobless number two I have a whole program on digital jobs I was in I was in Ru now with the MP for with just allow me allow me to interact you allow me there are risks on both ends of this interview no you told me you I your Excellency to talk about the last two weeks and the young people are saying you don’t get it you don’t understand what they’re talking about now what is the trigger here they’re saying there was this conversation about the finance bill that your government until the other day could not listen to anybody it’s not about the housing project it’s about listening they are saying your is not a listening presidency and yours is not a listening government how how best can I listen to the young people of Kenya if I am not addressing their issues and that is why I want to tell you lers these young people what is their biggest issue they have talents they have gone to school they have no jobs that is the problem and I am addressing those those issues housing is one of them digital jobs is another I was in Ru with Simon Kara the MP for Ru launching a an ICT Hub that will hire is actually hiring already four 5,000 young people our whole plan including what was in the finance bill was to increase CDF by 10 billion shillings to roll out ICT hubs in every ward in the Republic of Kenya so that we can hire young people train them put them on digital jobs I have a third program on export of Labor I have a fourth program on manufacturing to be able to create more opportunities for the young people of our country and you want to inform you they’re no longer just talking about things that can be done to them as a demographic they are looking at the big picture finance bill brought them out and when did they come in they came in after all public participation forums were not listened to Kenya Association of Manufacturers spoke to the Parliamentary committee same thing and said this is a bad Bill in association of insurance spoke to the the the Parliamentary team this is a bad Bill we had a big conversation on National Television this is a bad Bill you did not listen you had a meeting here with your UDA MPS and at some point told them to pass it as it is and until the last week that was the first Tuesday when the protests were there when now you offered um you offered to uh some amendments they’re saying you’re just not listening and it’s not about them it’s about the big picture issues and we’ll come to them including the question of corruption which not really a youth thing indeed Mr just just Mr more Mr President just I just want to come in in your analysis I just want to add on to that M because I want to add because let me let me just finish it it’s the same question it’s the same question Mr President if you went into all the Tweet the X spaces where the youth are speaking if you looked at the demonstrations and what they were saying the placards they carrying none of them has talked about we don’t have jobs none of them them have talked about the housing jobs are not enough for us none of them have talked anything about what you have mentioned so it’s not that they are not seeing about the jobs it is beyond that Mr President and respectfully I want to put it to you that you’re not hearing what they’re saying in fact they only heard after the protest after all those things you described that’s the time that you came and I have listen let let me tell you the following the rejection of the finance bill and this goes to what lenus has said that um we didn’t hear anything let me tell you the process of a finance bill in fact you know many people believe in Kenya that the finance bill is an invention of William Ruto it is not an invention of William Ru the finance bill is an instrument that has been with us ever since Independence only that we have made it much more transparent only that we have brought out more to the the public and that is why there is greater interrogation of what government is doing especially after the new Constitution that made public participation not a a sterile provision of the Constitution but public participation to be an integral part of lawmaking an integral part of managing the country let me tell you when we took the bill when when it when we formulated the bill it had 346 billion of new Revenue when MPS went out to the public the public said we don’t think this is good we don’t think this is good it was reduced by4 something billion Shillings it remained just 200 billion doesn’t that amount to listening no it doesn’t that that the public said reduce this by no it doesn’t Mr President and that’s why okay said reject it just wait just wait no we talking about listening just relax we’re talking about listening okay so the public said reduce this by 146 we sat down we cut down the areas we reduced it to uh 200 what went into the space was the people who wanted to mislead the public to say oh you see in fact everything you have been told is still there this was not removed these people are not listening these people are not listening and let me tell you uh my good friend Latif we have dropped the finance bill yeah what does that mean it means we have gone back almost almost 2 years it means that this year we are going to borrow a trillion shillings to be able to run our government that’s what it means I have been working very hard to pull Kenya out of a debt trap Mr pres let no let me just allow me because you know we need to contextualize this finance bill it is easy H Joe it is easy for us as a country to say let us reject the finance bill that’s fine and I have graciously said we will we will drop the finance bill but it has huge consequences it means we will not confirm the jss teachers 46,000 of them it means we cannot support our Farmers with 2 billion Shillings for us to make sure that farmers get a fair return of 50 Shillings per kilogram per per kilo of their milk it means we cannot sort out the coffee debts it means we cannot support the Cherry fund it means we cannot sort out the um debts of farmers in in in in in mumas it also means that we will continue to import potatoes from Europe when we have potatoes in his village you just told me you in Kim we have potatoes inand we have we have onions all over the place that may well be I think the problem has been these are people who are saying they haven’t been listened to you only listen because you said on that night on that Wednesday night that is the moment you said that you had realized Mr President that Kenyans did not want anything to do with that bill and one would wonder how can that be Mr President and and you have had all these presentations that have been made did it have to take demonstrations and sadly loss of lives for you to come to a point where you’d realize what your people the people that voted for you are saying that I think is what the young people are asking let me tell you uh Joe members of parliament are representatives of the people elected they are not fools and they are not mad and I want to say one day Kenya will know that the MPS who voted yes are the true heroes of Kenya those are the people people who saw the opportunity for us to unchain our country from debt trap and take our country to the Future let me tell you Joe and I want to say this to the people of Kenya that my plan was to make sure that in the next three years maximum four years we have a balanced budget where Kenya is not the country where we are today let me tell you gentlemen and I want to tell the people of Kenya the following we are in a very difficult financial position this is something that the people of Kenya must understand and that is why I am happy that we have a crisis this crisis will help us be candid and speak to each to each other properly and contextualize where we are we raised this year 2.3 trillion from our taxes of that 2.3 trillion 1.1 trillion went to debt financing 1 trillion went to salaries what did we do we had to go and borrow to pay the counties we had to go and borrow to fund our education we had to go and borrow to fund now the the funding Gap we have done with the finance bill going down is that instead of borrowing 600 billion we are going to borrow 600 billion plus 346 billion that is close to a trillion let me tell you my good friends and I want us to be honest with ourselves this is not how a country will get to a status where we are proud of our nation this is not how we are going to this is not how we are going to grow and that is why and that is why lenus this situation this crisis is a very important inflection point that we can fit together ass say let us agree and I have I have no problem let us agree yeah do we continue borrowing let me give you the statistics when in 2013 L just allow me one minute please with a lot of respect okay in 2013 the debt stock of Kenya was 1.8 trillion for 10 years that increased five times to 11 trillion 10 something trillion we built a lot of Roads we connected a lot of electricity we did many things in 10 years but we were doing it on debt today we don’t have the luxury to borrow because we have reached the limit and today let me finish today all the money we borrowed from 2013 is maturing that is why the biggest challenge that we have as a nation is that we are spending 1.1 trillion every year of taxes we collect from ordinary Kenyans to pay debt and not the whole debt interest interest alone interest principle comes to 1.8 trillion this year so my good friends and yet you want to tell me William Ruto don’t collect domestic taxes go borrow more money no Mr President that’s not what they’re saying president what what is what is the alternative yeah yeah and I just wanted to come to one what what is the alternative just just help me there yeah because there only two things you can do either you raise money from taxes or you borrow period there is no magic here the Kenyans your Excellency right now who do not listen to all that yes they are not interested in that that’s okay but but that’s the reality but if you are not if you do not want to listen H your excellenc hang on your Excellency because I need you to address a very important issue here and that is one of a trust deficit the Kenyans to watch you your Excellency and I don’t know whether you are aware that they don’t trust what you say they don’t believe what you say are you aware your Excellency for example that a lot of Kenyans increasingly don’t associate the truth with you that is your assessment because you have never Associated the truth with me from the beginning no no there’s quite a number of no I mean that is we asked people before we came here assessment and many of those that responded to me directly and to even our platforms on KTN news on spice FM on NTV on Citizen and we’re asking them what question should we ask the president this evening and the one thing that many of them were saying is when will he stop lying so it’s not L that can he tell us the truth this time let me let me say the following I told the people of Kenya that I would reduce the prices of fertilizer from 7,000 to 2,500 I don’t know how that is a lie because they buy it at 2,500 okay I told the there I I told the people of Kenya we are going to have we’re going to have a housing Pro program a housing program is underway in Kenya I I can tell you lus that whether you believe me or not facts will not change yeah facts are not changed by who says it and and and allow me to allow me to step back a bit your Excell facts are very stubble allow me to step back a bit yes and what I’ll do is we’ll play Clips just a little combination of clips of yourself speaking not too long ago and I want us to listen to that I’ll stand out of the way because you said it’s it it’s me that doesn’t associate the truth with you and I would like you to respond to yourself to the clips that we’re going to uh play but but you see let’s watch that your Excellency I think lenus yeah you uh you you don’t bring clips that are in a biased way you know you select maybe uh something that has not happened can can you be fair and select Clips across the board what I said and has been done and what I said and maybe has not been done let’s watch that let’s maybe you can watch that these people don’t understand the damage they are doing to the people and the economy of Kya if you have good ideas why do you need the police why do you need plma why do you need intimidation if you have better ideas sell them to the people of Kenya there are enough intelligent people in Kenya to differentiate what is good from what is better and what is best I I agree with that it it is not fair to use the police to Har citizens who have a contrary opinion and and and that is perfect that’s what they accusing you I still believe that that’s what they’re accusing you you don’t tell me what what is the problem with Alfred ker Al opinion no it’s not a contrary opinion I mean the police have said why they arrested him it is not because of me I didn’t give any instructions I didn’t even know what what was going on let me tell you lenus I am a very clear minded person on what I say when it is the police I have said many of the people who opposed me many of the people who uh were very scared about what I would do when I become president even the people who did worse things against me I have never gone after them because I don’t believe in settling political scores using the power of state or using the police let me also say the following when I talked about H the taxes that that I was I the campign I was I was addressing in in the campaign Trail it was very obvious that when at that time we were in subsidies that did not make sense it is because I removed the subsidies and I changed and put production support that is why today the price OFA has come down from 240 to 100 because I change the model I Chang the the configuration and it is giving us results but are you aware Mr President that the thing perhaps apart from now the police brutality that people associate you the most is the issue of taxes I’m sure you know the name they call you’ve actually talked about it even yourself this guy that they want to come let me let me tell you um my good brother ag ag when I came into office and I assessed the situation and it was no longer possible for us to borrow money I had to be honest with the people of Kenya I had to tell them we have two options right and even as we impose taxes we explained we made sure that there was adequate elaborate public participation on what it is that we were trying uh to achieve let me tell you uh the following I have done the best that I got globally today our country has tremendous respect from many quarters globally because of what I have done I have raised the profile of our country today I was in narok and the tourism numbers in 2022 1 1 million tourists in 202 3 last year 2 million tourists this year by God’s grace we will get to 2.7 million tourists because of the profile that I have done for the country I know somebody will say that uh that is there’s no truth in that but call the tourism sector they will tell you themselves that all hotels in Kenya today are operating 80% upwards which is a new phenomena in Kenya I will also tell you that the International Community have developed enormous confidence in Kenya I see people who are saying why did William rut go to China why did William rut go to Europe why did William R go to America let me just tell you the following when I went to China we got money to be able to uh put uh to put equipment in 70 of our Technical Training colleges today the contract has been signed the equipment is being manufactured when I went to China we got money to build Bost Dam in that has been waiting that will serve the counties of bomet and kicho when I went to China we got money to build we got 30 billion shillings to build roads in nyanda in kirinyaga in eight other constituencies in Kenya that’s why I went to China when I went to America we got a $1 billion facility to be built in in in in in nasia that is going to be the biggest data center in Africa funded by UAE working with Microsoft and Kenya when I went to the us we also agreed Kenya became the only country in Africa that is going to benefit from the chips act where we will be manufacturing computer chips with other countries Kenya will be among the first will be actually the only country in Africa that will benefit from that and many of the young people who I see today those are my targets for the future so it doesn’t bother you that there’s this tag on your head as a president who has over taxed Kenyans and now the sufferings that we going through is because of excessive taxation that you have imposed on Kenyans that is what I was asking about you see if I am called zakaya yeah because I have explained to the people of Kenya that the option we have is if we continue borrowing we will go down the cliff if that is what is going to take Kenya to be saved from a dead default I don’t mind being called Sakaya because it is a sacrifice worth Making Mr President every morning on spice FM we have 4 hours of a talk show and many times we ask people even those who come to the show to tell us what is it that the nation is saying when we seeing people out on the streets and many of them even when we said that we’re coming you have invited us to come and have this conversation this evening they said tell the president that he’s tone deaf and we ask why and how and they say when William Ruto took over as president he took over a budget of 3.2 trillion Shillings he went to Parliament and he said honorable speakers I believe that this budget is too high we should cut it by 300 billion Shillings so you believed one and a half years ago that you can run the country with 2.9 billion Shillings trillion Shillings barely a few months you went to Parliament and requested to spend 3.6 trillion Shillings this year you went to Parliament and initially requested to spend 4.2 trillion Shillings and what do they see in return they see extravagance in government they see a government that is pushing gangho to employ new people called C’s they they see a government that is purchasing new motor vehicles and trips that are extravagant they see opulence with those that are close to the president appearing in public carrying wordss of cash they see condescending attitude from those who serve in this government when they asked why are you spending and they respond the way they respond your advisors speaking the same and so they see a government where the president is telling people we are going to live within our means we are all going to tighten our belts we have austerity they end up with their children not going to school because for months JS teachers are on strike they end up with right now 91 days where clinical officers have not been to work 91 days Mr President we ended up with intern doctors going on strike for weeks because the government says it has no money we end up with people going to the hospitals and there’s no medicine we end up with people who are being told that we don’t have money to pay salaries or we don’t have money to pay salaries and also uh having development yet they see all this extravagance and opulence from those in power you are tone death Mr President that’s what they say well I guess that’s why we must have a conversation that’s why we must have a conversation and I’m very happy for us to have this conversation so that we can put the facts on the table and we can all of us make a decision but let me tell you the following I’ve listened to you and um let me also tell you that today the universities which were almost closed they had debts of 60 billion Shillings I have enhanced their budget by 40 billion Shillings the universities because education to me is very important it is the greatest equalizer today the universities can confirm to you and I was sitting here with the vice chancellors that I made the right decision because we are funding the universities better let me also tell you I took the decision to hire additional teachers 56,000 it has never happened in the history of Kenya why because education is the greatest equalizer many parents in rural in rural Kenya take their children to schools that have no teacher and we are disadvantaging them the children of the poor get the worst form of Education they have no chance I decided because I said it is bottom up I decided that I’m going to put more money in making sure the child of every Kenyan has an opportunity to be their best by giving them the correct education I decided that I am going to put money in farming I put the first year I put 10 billion Shillings in fertilizer subsidy a program that had been scrapped for 5 years the the the difference is obvious today by God’s grace we have harvest the prices of food commodities has come down day before yesterday Latif there was a release of where we are with inflation inflation in Kenya is now 4.6% when I came into office it was 9% inflation coming from food products it was reported not by me by the institutions that are charged 4.6% we have the the where I have invested money I can account for it and it is making a difference in the lives concern on extravagance in govern I will I will come to opulence in on on on opulence and extravagance every trip I have made I have not made any trip outside Kenya to go and do things that have that are of no benefit to this nation I can account for every trip that I have made outside our nation whether it is on projects or programs or Investments or even the profiling of this country to put it in the in good standing for us to attract investment in fact the Nairobi Stock Exchange which was which was almost closed was rated the best in the world not say by William Ruto but it was in the public domain by Bloomberg if you don’t believe me believe Bloomberg Mr President so so I have I have done what I could for the country let me finish question let me go to the opulence and let me be very clear that uh the display of U you know insensitivity is is a statement that has come to me and is a sentiment that has has come to me and you will see something very different going into the future whether it is coming from uh my staff whether it is coming from uh this office and and I know people have raised issues of C for example I deliberately even after Parliament had approved the the position of Cs I have not appointed any CS because I realized that we were in a situation that we could not ear no CIS will be appointed until we have an economy that can support more opportunities I know citizens have said that there is no need for the office of the uh first lady or second lady these are offices that were there but because we have to live within our means those offices from tomorrow this new budget which is starting tomorrow they will not be part of our equation because in the face of what has happened we have to trim down every other area and in fact not just those many other spaces are going to be tmed down to reflect the new reality especially after the finance bill was taken down uh by myself when I said we we take this down we are going to cut our cloth we are going to cut our our our our coat our coat uh the size of our cloth we’re going to reduce uh money going to counties we’re going to reduce money going to the Judiciary when I came into office the Judiciary was getting 18 billion today they are getting 25 billion but it was because I believed in the rule of law I believed that we needed to do something about making sure that our Judiciary has resources because Kenyans were telling me directly Justice delayed is Justice denied I haveed the highest number of Judges under my administration because I believe that Kenyans must deserve justice will you reduce the number of ministers Ministries or state departments or advisors that is an area we are going to Target and cut down because it is the reality we have to face Mr President uh when things like this happen elsewhere this is a whole finance bill that’s been taken down correct you have people who have been advising you on financial matters you have people who have been advising you on political matters listening to the people you have advisers who have talked down at Kenyans who have called them spoiled kids KFC Java and whatnot and you have people who have been around you talking into your ear with regard to some of these things and many people have ventured to actually said that this amounted to a vote of no confidence is there going to be some kind of shakeup that actually acknowledges is that this is not where we should have been and therefore I am sorry Kenyans and this is what I’m doing about it because short of that how are we to know that we will not find more of the same watch this space there are those who have said now that clearly there are many people who have lost confidence in Parliament there are those who have lost confidence in you that maybe the way to Reg gain the legitimacy is to go to an election there is no provision you know we are a country of the rule of law yeah we must whatever it is that we do we must keep it within the parameters of the rule of law and uh we cannot take what has happened over the last two weeks or or thereabout and say we are going to abrogate our constitution I I I think we will be going towards Anarchy and I don’t think that is where we want to take our country there is a demand on me as president and I have said because of where we are because of what has happened there is going to be a thorough cut down on many things whether we are talking about allowances maybe even we should have a conversation around salary we had a meeting here with MPS and even them they are persuaded maybe it is time to burn harambes so that uh we we we we we we remove Avenues of uh people participating in lares demonstration of you know uh opulence and I want to tell you that I am going to take action I am going to work on this I know what we should do but I am also not going to be Reckless and take the country into a crisis I will make sure that I act responsibly and listen listening to what the people of Kenya are say I don’t know if this will preempt to your Excellency but one of the most serious concerns that have been coming out including in the Gen Z demonstrations is the question of corruption and uh right through this interview you’ve not mentioned the word um and even as you go into that I want to give you two illustrations Kenyans dealt with or or or encounter the problem of fake fertilizers and you never took action against your cabinet secretary for agriculture before that we had the Scandal around the importation of edible oil which your Excellency we don’t know where the edible oil is to date I don’t think it ever found itself to the market again there is a cabinet secretary uh in that Ministry and also what got into the market was uh condemned sugar and when we look at all the information around these three cases these are people close to you they cabinet secretaries and so you are unable to take action against them so why should you be trusted now to act because there are those who read and say you are really a hostage of those who campaigned for you to become president they get away with anything three things lus um we hadn’t reached the question of corruption so don’t unfairly accuse me that I have not spoken to it I am ready to speak about it so that’s number one number two I fired the CEO of caps when the sugar thing came up number two on fake fertilizer the minister myal inuri was taken through a process in Parliament the CEO of national serials board the general manager of national serials board and other seven members of staff are in court as I talk to you the people who signed the contract they in court you spare big fish and roast the small fish uh let me let me just finish yeah because I need uh lenus you know I I am I am a fair person and I am a believer in the rule of law even though I may not like you but I must respect that there is a due process the moment you know uh we will have a minister who is charged in court meaning there is evidence that they have participated in crime believe you me I will take the action that is necessary but if somebody is taken through a process and that process comes out without uh an in an indictment I mean surely we must we must give somebody the benefit of Doubt until it is proven and the fact that yeah the CEO General Manager and all the people that were there who who actually evidence was found have been arraigned in court isn’t that a step in the right direction what a political responsibility what a political responsibility let me let me let me let me let me finish and then number three the other one you asked me was edible oil the people who are involved in edible foil I fired them and they are in court we have a new management in Kenya national uh trading Corporation in fact we’ve just hired a new management for the Kenya National trading Corporation so those are actions that I have taken can I and for your information void of what Jo is calling political responsibility yeah I I mean everybody else in the ministry can be but you but you see if there is no evidence against a minister surely do you do you want me to fire somebody if there’s no evidence you know there was a time uru Kenyata as I served him as his Deputy removed six cabinet secretaries but eventually they were found that they were innocent and we had to appoint them to be ambassadors you know so so some of these you know actions must be tempered with process of law you know due process unless we follow due process Gentlemen We Will We Will We Will We will end up being something else up to this just a moment just a moment Eric in a moment because up to this point your Excellency uh if I don’t want us to lose the context the last two weeks have been extraordinary we’ve never seen anything like this you have kdf um troops um in the streets of Nairobi up to this point uh your Excellency and including on the question that I’ve just asked you of accountability within your government do you think you addressing the Grievances that have made thousands of Kenyans across the country in places that were unimaginable to get out to the streets to say rut must go do you think up to this point they feel you’ve addressed their grievances I am not in their space so I I am doing what I believe I should be doing I have taken the responsibility ability to withdraw the finance bill with all the attendant consequences that I have done I know what it means and I know where it takes the country and it is not a simple decision for me to make and for your information the finance bill was going to take Kenya big steps forward but it’s a sacrifice I’ve had to make because of the political reality that we are in but it will mean counties will have to take maybe 30 billion Shillings off their budget yeah it means we have to reduce CDF by 10 maybe 10 billion Shillings it means we have to rethink about what to do with jss teachers it means we have to put on the freezer we wanted to hire another 20,000 teachers because there are kids who do not have H who do not who who do not have teachers it means we have to work on our UHC program we we thought we would upgrade uh for example Linda Mama yeah you know we thought we would upgrade Linda Mama something your Excell it means we have to hold that and it means many things just told them what else they want to hear you you’re speaking outward but looking at the Grievances they’re also asking questions inward uh from you your uh your Excellency and uh what I can hear from these grievances that have been expressed quite loudly you said you’re not in their spaces uh sometimes get into the spaces to listen to what they are saying and all they’re saying is you cannot be for the next three years the president that you’ve been for the last two so what is that that you’re going to change about that’s why that’s why lenus that’s why lenus that’s why we are here of course it’s not going to be business as usual with the kind of reality we are faced with now it has to be different do do you regret anything at all what you should have done better what your people would have done better well maybe there are things we should have done better we should have communicated better I think the biggest problem we have even with the finance bill because the finance bill has great things for Kenya the finance bill says we shouldn’t be importing potatoes from Europe the finance bill says we shouldn’t be importing onions or eggs from Europe the finance bill says we should be growing our own Industries we should be manufacturing diapers in Kenya we have 10 companies doing that we should be manufacturing all those things in Kenya we should be expanding our manufacturing capacity that is what finance bill was talking to but I am sure we will recover that when we when when we have explained the biggest challenge that I regret is that we didn’t communicate better maybe we we failed in explaining to Kenyans what the finance bill was all about because I promise you if I explain if I am given a chance to explain to the people of Kenya what was in the finance bill and what the finance bill would have done for this country every Kenyan would have agreed with me but my regret is that you you were here Mr President they said you would have explained we didn’t we didn’t explain ourselves uh better maybe my communication team failed maybe my uh not maybe I’m sure my communication team failed our communication architecture did not deliver did not get uh the message out to the people of Kenya in fact if you look at what people were saying they were saying for example there is a matter of land on the finance bill there was no matter of land in the finance bill not even a single line and it is on that basis that people rejected the finance bill and many other things that were not in the finance bill now communication is about words uh Mr President let’s go to the Deeds because when you see what genz are doing for the first time in the history of this country we’ve had protests on the altar of the Holy Family Basilica because the young people of this country are telling you the political culture uh which you’ve been part of of having politicians speak in church uh converting the platforms into uh uh converting the pulpit into campaign platforms must end so I’m not hearing you addressing and looking more inward uh into this whole picture that the Gen Z is is painting they’re not just talking about uh some of those things that you’re raising on that lenus I have even had an occasion to speak to church leaders here on that on matters of Politics on the pulpit I am 100% aligned we shouldn’t be using pulpits in churches or in or in any other places of worship to prosecute politics it is not right and and I agree we need to change that culture we need to change the culture of harambe harambe started as a noble exercise it it supported many people to go to school it supported many people to uh deal with the challenges of uh of medication and hospital bills but I think it has been stretched it bred corruption it has it has stretch too far and I think it’s time as a country we must stop corruption we must stop harambes because it is it it is occasioning and it is uh um breeding if I may say corruption yeah because when you’re Aid of a much lower pay pay grade donates 20 million shillings to a church fundraiser there is something fundamentally wrong and that is why this conversation is necessary so that we can stop it conversation Mr President on Thursday on Wednesday you said you are hearing that there’s U what the genes are saying and you’re going to initi iate a conversation we saw the head of Public Service release a press release saying that there’s now a formation of the national multi sectoral Forum that will bring together all people and you started having conversation with church leaders the genzi upon seeing this are saying we do not ask for a conversation we asked for Action so what action is going to precede this conversation because the conversation is another talk it reminds people of the nadco talks the BBI talkg ippg talks talks that just happen and they just don’t end and people are saying we want action Mr President right okay we will participate in action in conversations maybe later but for now I I for now Mr President what’s the action I promised that I will engage the young people yeah I promised I will was just making good my promise as to and I even I I I promised a a multis sectoral forum and and that’s what I have put out I also promised that these are some of the topics I want us to discuss I want us to discuss debt I want us to discuss taxation I want us to discuss unemployment I want us to discuss corruption I want us to discuss this issues and it was a suggestion and I am open I am I am hearing that the young people people are saying we don’t want a multis sectoral forum maybe we should have an engagement with the president on X and I am open to having an engagement with a young people on a forum that they are comfortable with you digital if they if they if they want me to engage with them on X I will be there at this point Mr President do you think you know what the young people want I have many young people in my house are they telling you all is well same the same ones that are in all these other spaces and they want an engagement they have ideas they have suggestions and I am open if what we are doing on the digital space on the housing program on the export of labor on manufacturing if they have suggestions I am am open to those suggestions they can improve they can change they can make new suggestions and I also have a responsibility as a father you know because these are our children I have also a responsibility to guide and to listen to them and to tell them yes on this I agree for example on let’s not have spouses off I agree let’s not have CSS C for now I agree let us not have advisor advisor we will agree let us not have um churches being space for for for for politics I agree so many of these areas we need to even have a conversation if we are paying 46% of our revenues for salaries and wages when the legally uh established space should be 35% that is why I started a conversation with salaries and renumeration commission we must deal with the issue of wages and salaries so that we bring them down to 35% and leave more money for our development that is a conversation I am very happy about when Mr President it’s been two weeks it’s been two weeks of you every we are going to you know what they say on social media I I they call you the the president of Tut fistic you’re saying but here we are going to have a conversation I said within a week I gave a timeline within a week yeah so within a week we will have agreed on where are we meeting are we meeting at the X space I am ready for that X are we do we are we agreeing on this multis sectoral I I’m I’m I’m waiting to see the suggestions that Kenyans have I don’t want to prescribe any suggestion but when I give out a suggestion I expect feedback I expect people to say maybe this is okay maybe this is not okay and then we agree on a way to Mr President any of them analyzing what you have actually said tonight on the issue of your ad visors your cabinet what you’re going to do what Kenyans like to call heads that are going to roll as a result of this National shame because that is what many people have called it you have said watch this space and here there are all these other things that young people are asking you about what is that concrete thing that you’re telling them tonight that I have heard you these are the things I’ve had you say since all these things started and this is what I have done because you seem to have withdrawn or declined to sign this finance bill rather grudgingly but not in good faith having understood what people were saying you’re regretting this thing saying you guys that is what what we’re hearing let me tell you that I will not lie to the country that putting down the finance bill is going to be easy that that’s that that I’ll be I I’ll I’ll not be I’ll not be a leader I have to be brutally honest and those consequences it will start with me to cut down the budget in my office to remove uh what we call austerity to implement an austerity program that will cut down on un necessary staff and necessary offices or offices that we can we can take down I am ready to even engage the young people and for them to because they they want an engage engagement I I do I do want an engagement for for us to agree so what do we do with debt what do we do with the following what do we do with the following they will tell me uh do this fire so and so fire so and so do this and I will tell them what is possible and what I think we could we could do it differently or are you telling me that uh I should just listen and Implement without making a contribution to the conversation I thought we are having a convers I’m just telling you what they are saying I’m not saying anything else I’m just telling you what I’m hearing because you did say you’re not in their spaces but I am in their SP and in two weeks your Excellency by now you’d have known uh what you should do and uh I mean they are Basics which two weeks two weeks of the riots and two weeks of the protests it’s been two weeks it started yeah it started the other Monday so let me ask you lenus um the protests uh I I I finally decided that um because we didn’t communicate sufficiently to the people of Kenya the import of the finance bill and there was so much built around it including a lot of fake things you know that were not in the finance bill many things that were not in the finance Bill were used to fight the the finance bill and you know at some point many people did not even care what was in the finance bill do not care I I think you know at some point you know as Leaders we must we must stop somewhere and say we have a country to run I mean we we cannot be Reckless we we must must at some point stop and say what are the consequences because everything we do has consequences and we must be careful as a nation to make sure that our country does not go down to the dogs and believe me countries you know have gone have gone in the wrong direction and and and uh we must be careful and I don’t want to be the leader that took the country in the wrong direction we must be measured we must be careful we must listen to the young people we must listen to other views and be able to make a a a carefully well thought out plan for the country out of where we are yeah but what if the protesters are actually saying something in totality about your government not just about the finance bill it’s not about just the finance bill is it uh lus as I have told you we are a democracy the people of Kenya can make a decision yeah and and I am perfectly you know uh alive to the fact that when the people of Kenya finally the same way they decided to elect me when they make another decision we will comply as the people of Kenya you know that’s what the democracy is all about you know people can can can vote in a government people can vote out a government for whatever H judgment the people have so I want to be very clear to the people of Kenya that I will do my best to make sure that I tell the country to truth and I take the country forward and I am committed to that and I can see Kenya changing if I had man to pass this finance bill Kenya would not be the same we would we would take this country to the next level the kind of investment I have made the kind of uh collaboration with many friends that we have done we would begin to see this country soaring into the future but all is not lost maybe we have taken one step back sometimes maybe it is necessary to take one step back to be able to take many steps forward and that is my thinking of the situation but but surely it must bother you Mr President that 2 years ago you ran such a euphoric campaign with things like atup pangu and 22 months down the line your state house is surrounded by the military the military tank scary as they are are rolling on the streets of major cities and as we sit here today people are saying rout must go surely that is such a fast slide there must be something that causes one to pose and say how did we get here what happened here here and one would have expected an earthshaking statement tonight that tells the country I get it something has shifted in a major way in our country and I’m also shifting as your president who’s listening and this is the new Direction things are going to take let me tell you um uh Joe I came into office at a difficult time yeah we have a combination of coming out of covid we have a serious drought that hit our country we had interest rates that went up everywhere we went into a very difficult situation what did many countries do many countries went and defaulted and I don’t want to mention countries because it’s not right to mention but almost eight countries in Africa went down many people expected Kenya to be among the eight but believe you me I have carefully managed the economy of Kenya Kenya is not among the countries that have defaulted in if if anything we have running programs in Kenya we have a whole housing program that is running we have a whole digital program that is running we have made changes in our education we’ve hired more teachers we’ve made sure that our uh we have a new funding model for our universities we have supported our Farmers we have reduced the cost of living we have done many things even in the context of all the challenges that we have had I am telling you I came in and I believe I’m the right person to be in this space when Kenya is in a difficult position because I believe I am the person who can sort out the challenges that faces Kenya at a point like this but but when the public and the protest the Gen Z some of who actually formed the base of your election campaign are telling you we are disappointed you’ve not delivered # rout must go what do you tell them let me tell them the following good friends the young people of our nation my sons and daughters who supported me to win the election I hear you in fact I saw I think it was on your headline a gentleman from my Village who was saying the president has let us down many children in this Village are not getting jobs locally that is why they are going abroad little did he know my good friend from my Village that the children the 500 of his colleagues around our village are actually part of my plan on export of Labor they have actually I intentionally supported them to leave the country because we got them jobs outside Kenya so I am telling the young people all over our nation to be patient our housing program is rolling we will be hiring more Architects we will be hiring more Engineers we will be hiring more professionals to support our housing program by in the next two years we will have 300 maybe ,000 people working in that space be patient we are sorting out the challenges that are facing our digital space we’re rolling out our digital space young guys by the end of next year God willing we will have a digital Hub in every W in Kenya because we have already started that process every tiet in Kenya today has an ICT Hub with young people monetizing their talent I want to tell them we are full speed into manufacturing that is why we’re saying we are no longer importing clinker we’re no longer importing steel we are no longer importing clinker we are no longer importing uh Furniture we are going to stop importing eggs we’re going to stop importing uh onions and all the this because we want to promote our local manufacturing to be able to create jobs for them we are no longer going to be importing diapers or sanitary parts from other countries they are going to be manufactured here I have worked with the industries to make sure that we create opportunities for these young people we’re going to work with them to deal with the challenge of corruption we’re going to work with them to cut down on government leges I am going to make sure that we have a lean government that responds to the reality of where we are as a country that is what I am telling my good young people young people there’s another group of young people please speak to them directly yes the young doctors who are in University graduating this year yes who are going to look for internship corre the next year the young JS teachers who were on strike a couple of weeks ago who are expecting to be absorbed into full permanent pensionable contract correct this year the young clinical officers also who are graduating and they expect to go on internship the other clinical officers who were hired on contract during covid and other programs that are just contracts and contracts are coming to an end I am all these I am telling the jss teachers I had factored in 18 billion Shillings in this year’s finance bill to be able to transfer them to permanent and pensionable because in my phone so many of them have asked me Mr President we came in we had an agreement that we are going to be interns for two years we will move to permanent and pension board although I don’t have the finance bill I want to tell them give me a bit of time let me figure this out how we are going to do it without the finance bill we had also put 3 billion Shillings for the doctors so that we can be able B to sort them out especially the intern doctors and those who we intended to hire to under our UHC program I had put 10 billion Shillings on the UHC program under the finance bill that is now not in the equation I have to figure out let them just give me a little a a time I’m going to figure it out again because I know and I feel and I made a commitment to them that we will do this so even in the absence of the finance bill and even as we cut down on expenditure on many other areas it is still my commitment that we will see what to do with them so that the job they are doing in teaching our children in treating our people do not go to West Mr Mr President we we we almost winding down this but have you noticed that those young people they actually have worked out the things that they believe you can take out and still be able to do the important things cuz you seem to have this elaborate plan and I’m wondering where where their views will fit in because you seem to have uh this all worked out but they probably don’t want all those things that is why they have figured out that is why you know part of what I told you Joe is communicating you know and I hope this time time around I find a medium where I can engage you know and I’m ready to go to this expl to engage with them and I want to tell them this is my plan okay tell me how I can make this better tell me this is not good enough you know change this because I have seen some of the demands they have made they have said that um don’t hire C and I agree with them they have said remove the Office of the first lady the second the spouse of the the second Lady and all that and I have agreed with them they have said a couple of things that we already are in agreement they have of course said some of the things abolished the office of uh uh women rep I’ve seen they have also said we should reduce the salaries of MPS to 200,000 or something some of those things are things that are not in my power those are the things that we need to do a whole of society a whole of nation approach so that if we are bringing down salaries from 1.1 trillion to 700 billion that is something I am willing and I am ready to start with my own salary going down to salaries of others so that we can all leave within our minutes your Excellency we now going to our final questions and uh my final question will uh be about the protests and the deployment of kdf uh which you did um a few days ago now the Gen Z Millennials and the online um Kenyans that are organized this organizing this protest are promising to be back on the streets on on Tuesday what should we expect on Tuesday when protesters peaceful as they have some of them have been turn up on the streets of Nairobi do we expect them to be chased Away by the Kenya Defense Forces first the Kenyan Defense Forces will not be on the street they only come as a last result if the demonstrations will be peaceful I promise you the police will be there to protect the demonstrators but the police will also be there to make sure that the criminals the fellows who come to burn offices the fellows who come to loot property will also be dealt with that is my commitment we must all operate within the law and that is what it is my final question is on the elephant in the room the elephant in our budget public debt candidate William Ruto responded to a question during the debate and he said he’s going to commission an audit of the public debt President William Ruto last year responded to the same question and said it’s important for us to audit our public debt today’s question is when public debt is actually a public document where we are as a country the 10 something trillion of our debt is in the public domain but I am prepared for us to put in forensic experts as part of this exercise so that we can all appreciate yes this is what we owe and then agree how do we pay how do we deal with it in fact I was in Korea in fact Korea when they had a problem of debt the whole nation came together and people contributed gold others contributed many things because they wanted to pay their national debt maybe we will need that conversation once we are all clear that this is public debt my question Mr President is when as soon as we finish this conversation once we have agreed that this is the way we are going I will institute the necessary steps to make sure that that debt is audited and it is made public for Kenyans to know this is the public debt and I’m sure it will not take a month for us to be able to know is this what is kenyaan public debt and and then we can take it up from there and go forward Mr President my final question is about your cabinet given the things that have happened given the questions that have been raised about fertilizer about edible oils about sugar and all of that tonight can you look Kenyans in the eye and tell them you have full confidence in the cabinet that is currently helping you to run the country the cabinet that I have have maybe it could have done better that’s not the question Mr President maybe it could have done better I’m answering a question okay yeah maybe unless you have a better answer allow allow me to answer no I just thought my question was specific but you can that’s what I’m saying so uh maybe my cabinet would have done better right and I am going to do a soul searching on on how we need to move forward all right thank you very much Mr President for your time uh ladies and gentlemen that is where we end this conversation with the president tonight my colleagues have been Lena Sky Kai from Citizen TV Royal Media Services and Eric Laff representing KTN KTN news from the standard Media Group and my name is Joe ago from NTV do have a lovely evening set up