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 2015
Your 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.
4

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 6 th 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, reengineering 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 Excellency
And now it is my humble duty to invite you Your Excellency to give
your address.