SPEECH BY THE CABINET SECRETARY FOR DEVOLUTION AND PLANNING MS. ANNE WAIGURU, OGW ON THE OCCASION OF THE PASS OUT PARADE OF NYS RECRUITS AND COMMISSIONING OF NEW EQUIPMENT AND MACHINERY AT NYS COLLEGE GILGIL ON 23RD APRIL 2015Your Excellency the President and Commander in Chief of Defense Forces of the Republic of Kenya, Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta, CGH,Cabinet Colleagues, Governors Present,Members Parliament with us here today,Service Commanders present,Principal Secretaries, The Director General, National Youth service, Dr. Nelson Githinji, Members of County Assemblies here today,Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen

Your Excellency, We are greatly honoured by your presence here with us today and are indeed privileged that you have found time out of your busy schedule to come and officiate this passing out parade. Indeed this is a significant occasion in the calendar of the National Youth Service.Your Excellency we are inspired each day and encouraged by the genuine interest you continue to show in empowering the young generation and your focus to invest in them so that they can be productive members of our Kenyan society.We wish to humbly and most gratefully acknowledge the personal intervention of your Excellency in ensuring that the Ministry of Devolution and Planning has the necessary support and resources required to deliver on the youth agenda. Through your wise guidance and steadfast support, we are encouraged to carry out our responsibilities with added zeal and steadfast devotion. We thank you.Your Excellency,The youth are the custodians of a nations posterity and no country can develop sustainably without investing in its youth. The youth represent our dreams and our hopes as a nation and where those dreams and hopes are smothered in despair, the entire nation falters. We are therefore very excited about this opportunity provided by the National Youth Service to mould the next generation of Kenyan leaders, and citizens who will uphold this country and work single mindedly, diligently and selflessly to build the Kenya we all dream to have.Your Excellency,Many have asked? What is new about this new vision of the National Youth Service? Is it just about increased numbers and cleaning up of informal settlements? Is there anything new?Your Excellency,As I seek to respond to this question, allow me to use a little imagery, I will do so by taking on the subject of wines and viticulture. As you may well know in viticulture, there are various factors that determine the quality, flavor and productivity of a vineyard and eventually of the wine that is produced. This is the Terroir or otherwise referred to as the sense of place; the sum total of the characteristics of the environment of the specific place where the grapes grow.With regard to soils, though the influence of soils is not as dramatic as that of climatic conditions, it is known that the best wine growing sites in the world are said to have well-draining soils with adequate water-holding capacity, lighter soil texture which is less prone to soil compaction, moderate depth and low relative level of fertility.These factors combined is what is referred to as the Terroir. Terroir, as a concept doesnt only apply to wines, it can apply to just about any agricultural produce, the reason why Kenyan Arabica coffee possesses, the rich aroma that gives it its international acclaim is the terroir associated with the growth and production of coffee in Kenya. Your Excellency,The micro-climate we are creating in the National Youth Service, through the 5-point plan you launched in September 2014, is the Terroir for building our youth, into a new more hopeful generation. It is the sum total of an environment that will nurture a young person that is patriotic, selfless, has a sense of civic duty, and is ready to diligently build his or her country. The NYS Serviceman and woman will be distinguished because they have grown in a micro-climate that transforms their nature and nurtures their new nature.Your Excellency,There are other parallels we can draw from the process of wine making. Consider the process of wine making from the sorting of the grapes, crushing and pressing, fermentation, clarification and finally aging and bottling. The stages through which the NYS servicemen and women go through from the day they are recruited into the service, to the day they leave is very similar. They undergo a process of character building through basic and paramilitary training; fermentation and clarification through their service in nation building and social transformation, and finally aging and bottling, through the vocational training that equips them with the requisite skills to take advantage of economic opportunities in the country. All the while, they are being prepared and inculcated with a sense of patriotism, civic competence and self reliance.Your Excellency,There is a spiritual connection between a place, a name and a brand. When we hear Bordeaux, we think of elegant French wine. This is because Bordeaux the place, has distinguished itself in producing high quality wine since the 6th Century BC. A good name is better than wealth! The Kenya National Youth Service is committed to making a good name that will outlive these first graduates of the new 5-point plan. A brand name that will not only stand out in the national arena, but a brand we can export to other parts of the world, just like our Kenyan Arabica Coffee. Your Excellency,Lastly, a common practice in the wine and coffee industry, is a realisation that when you cant produce enough of the gourmet product, then you use it as a blend to improve the quality of other varieties. Kenyan Arabica coffee is used as a common blend for other varieties from Vietnam and Latin America, to increase and improve their flavours. The discipling principle of the 5 point-plan where 1 serviceman/woman disciples 5-10 community youth, as they undertake national service, is all about blending; ensuring that the values and principles taught to the few who manage to get into the NYS, filters across a broader group of youth, and lights up a fire of change across communities of young people throughout the country. Your Excellency,So just like good wine, we aspire to build a community of youth directly through the NYS and indirectly through our community engagement that will drive the revolution towards development, peace, security and national commitment. Youth who will be TRUE to SELF and TRUE to COUNTRY. As the good book reminds us, you cannot put new wine in old skin, as the skin will tear, re-engineering the NYS, goes hand in hand with delivering the Jubilee Governments youth promise.To the servicemen and women,I urge you to take pride in your country and in yourselves, you are privileged to be living at a time such as this. A time when the sitting President is committed to transforming your lot. To whom much is given, much is also expected. We expect you to be the change agents of the youth in your generation and in generations to come. May you aspire to do great things and build this beautiful country called Kenya.Thank you your ExcellencyAnd now it is my humble duty to invite you Your Excellency to give your address. PAGE 1