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To our graduates,
This is time for some hard truths.
This empowerment comes with responsibility.
On 20 June 2024, 29-year-old Rex Kanyike Masai was shot and killed during what should have been peaceful protest for opposing the Finance Bill 2024. JusticeForRex became a slogan, the rallying call that was, is, the moral urgency of our times.
Rex emboldened our nation, his death galvanised all people across all sectors of our nation, fed-up with the status-quo, asking only ask for transparency, equality and respect of the rule of law by those who hold the instruments of the rule of law in Kenya.
Rex asked for opportunity. His call was met with police bullets and batons.
Graduates,
You are not the future anymore.
You are the now.
You stand on the shoulders of Rex and hundreds of Kenyans whose names are forever immortalised in our third and I dare say final, liberation struggle. Their sacrifices should and will not be in vain.
You now carry that torch of progress.
My friends,
Devolution has given you a platform — now it is your turn to build upon it.
Start small, but think big.
Collaborate with others.
Use your talents not only to lift yourself, but to lift others.
Remember — true empowerment is not about what we receive, but what we give back.
Remember too that You are the living proof that devolution works and that local action can lead to national transformation.
I urge you to use your training as a launchpad — to build, to innovate, and to serve. Don’t wait for opportunities to come knocking; go out and create them!
Distinguished Guests,
Kenya’s future will not be shaped in boardrooms and in Nairobi alone. It will be shaped in counties like Machakos — by young people who are determined to make devolution work. When every county becomes a centre of innovation, agriculture, entrepreneurship, and creativity, Kenya will rise — united, prosperous, and just.
And that, my friends, is the true power of devolution — the power to give every Kenyan a fair chance to dream, to work, and to succeed where they are, whichever county they live in.
To our graduates,
Let me ask you, vijana — are you ready to lead?
Are you ready to succeed?
Are you ready to show Kenya the power of empowered youth?
Then go and do it — with pride, with purpose, and with passion!
Walk proudly into your future.
You, not only are the products of devolution, today, you have become the face of transformation, and the hope of this nation.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Devolution is not just a policy, but a living promise.
It has given us the chance to bring progress home — and youth empowerment is the heartbeat of that progress. I therefore thank the Machakos County Government for this programme and salute your commitment Madam Governor, to empowering the youth of this great county.
May I suggest that in honour of Rex Masai and the fallen Gen Zs whose sacrifices changed Kenya forever and inspired change worldwide, that you rename this inspirational project, The Rex Masai Empowerment Programme. Let Rex never be forgotten by Machakos, by Kenya and by the world.
Together, my friends, we can Komboa Kenya and build a Nation State where no dream is too big, where no voice is silenced, and where, most importantly, no young person is left behind.
Congratulations, Class of 2025!
Machakos believes in you.
Kenya believes in you.
And I, Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka, believe in you!
Asanteni sana, Mungu awabariki, na hongera vijana wa Machakos! 🇰🇪
HE DR STEPHEN KALONZO MUSYOKA, EGH, SC, CS.