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tv   Inside Story  Al Jazeera  August 9, 2024 9:30am-10:01am AST

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knowledge from indigenous communities is helping tackle today's environmental catastrophe. in columbia, the arrow walkers, people, scientists to understand why species of toes one's thoughts extinct is still thriving in the coastal mountains of the sierra nevada. nations frontline, the starry night towed on al jazeera, he gave it into protest as demons withdrew a controversial bill and re shuffled his cabinets academy and present is still under pressure. tens of thousands of people have been cooling for them to what they say is corruption and mismanagement. so as we'll change, comfortable in kenya, this is inside story, the
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hello there and welcome to the program. i'm nora. kyle kenya is on the edge again, protests against a finance bill have become a nation wide movement, challenging the very foundations of president william with his government. young people leading the charge, demanding low attacks, is an end to corruption, and the government that listens us as the demonstrations intensified. so to has the response, thousands of active as some protest as what killed all those disappear, present which had quell this defend. oh is kenya on the brink of major political change? we'll put these questions and more to our panel and just a moment but fast this report from excell damage to back on the street. once again . young canyons are calling for president bill them with a to resign and demanding justice for those killed and security. correct? down the wall. yeah, just the yeah. what are these are the you are not said are you much?
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well, what began is protests against the controversial finance built that we have raised taxes as it falls into broader calls for and then to corruption. since june, tens of thousands of can use a ticket party demonstrations across the country. they intensified in july when and peace passed the bill, protests restoring parliament and set part of it on fire. the army was deployed and thousands of people were killed even to route to we through the proposed legislation is failed to quote, public anger. young people say his problem is that he cannot accomplish unity has amounted to nothing. the root cause of dissatisfaction lies at the cost of living crisis and proceed. government corruption. the president has formed a new cabinet which includes opposition figures, but many canyons are skeptical. anything will change they say authorities have done little to follow up on the dozens of active as separate testers who have
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disappeared or being abducted by an unknown man. quotes majority of them, my individuals who are actively involved, particularly can the social media platforms to agitate for change of the country. these, like individuals were calling people to come out. you are calling people uh to share their concerns to share their grievances with the government. when they disappear, some of them come back and some of them i found it when they wrote the street so young voices grow louder every day. young canyons are just asking for change. they are demanding it access i'm which, which is 0 inside story. the, let's bring it all guess now and from london with joined by non jolla and i bought a political analyst and also a digital democracy, analog politics. how the internet era is transforming politics and can yep. from my
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baby with going to buy house on kind of day, the right to of the whole and international is tooth of statistics studies. and also in london, we have all the concepts you and emerging market economist. and also if i will welcome to all of you house on the 1st of all, tell us about the situation that in my baby today. because as we go to record this program was in clouds of tear gas, a very heavy security presence in downtown library. be what's going on. the decision was being hot tens of bank statement issues. morning. they are in the mind that this a bit of bottles today that haven't been as heavy process as what was expected before either because of some of the political dynamics that took place through the last few weeks. but also i think owing to i think having the presence of, of, of skill base obviously as you know, not guessing not, but across the country at, but this fictional cause is do tend spend these heavy deployment of skills yet, but it does across the city. and out of why do you think we've been seeing the
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number of pro testers decrease in recent weeks? indeed, today there's just small pockets of people so hours on the streets and that being met by the norm, a security presence. well, i think the answers and the question um, the security response has been widely disproportionate and not just in the immediate sense of the protests, but you know, people being trapped to their homes, people being detained, interested at various points. i think the abductions have really set, certainly killed the atmosphere in the country. but then there's also the new a shift in as destruct tactics. the strategies that are being used by the protesters. i think initially because there was a single focal point for the protests, which was the finance bill. and now that there's a slightly more disperse and impetus, there's not like one thing that people are responding to. it's much more difficult to get that spontaneous reaction that there was a sort of at the beginning. but really the device in response to the police,
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the children, you fact, the abductions, the disappearance isn't mcewen's. but that is probably a big reason why a lot of people opted not to participate in this round of protests icon to unless of course is a big reason has been jealous as to what extent as well is the reason because we're to has withdrawn this finance bill and indeed we shuffled his government which was full and it and today, but i think it's like 9. john said yeah. and uh, you know, what we've seen is a focal point, which was in the finance bill that's, that's no longer the we've seen this elite bargain, which i've seen the president has achieved, which is amongst the politicians. i do think that's a long term solution. i think it's a very short term solution of a 20th century solution to 21st century issue a which is the sort of uprising amongst amongst the citizenry. so i think and then
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yet of it's sort of a very hard approach, coupled with this elite bargain amongst the politicians, might've stem the tide temporarily. but i don't think that this is a long lasting solution to the problem that we're facing. and i think that's going to do on the folder over the next few weeks. yeah, that's probably interesting how some would you agree with that when you agree that this new governments that router has full and in full of familiar faces, a little bit from the opposition is not reflective of the people's demands. even though most of the way i think perhaps is much taking to the i did the mounds of the, you know, popularly known as jane z, the country. but a test served to come the passions, especially from position strong codes. uh, can you or areas that are perceived that you not to have been, you know, they saw front, you know, posing government policies as well as government they just mission. and so all that
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in some ways and sudden aspect is actually called some of the sentiments that were being ex priced and but of course it is a short term kind of a bond date, a solution to i think that's what i've been told, you know, traveling today, especially the country and all the household time do that with okay. yeah, i actually don't think that it has changed anything, i think moving around the same people so you can reach him the same names. there are governments. i think it appears of the political class, but i don't think it does anything for the grassroots. i think the big shift that has happened is the perception of the deep inequality that exists in the country. we saw through the process of bets in, you know, the last declarations that were being made by all of these politicians. these are our billionaires and they are no $1.00 has and to be to have a, a lead class, whether they're in one political party or another political policy. um, sort of shuffled around and leadership level doesn't actually address the problem
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at hand. now the approaches this might be regrouping because, you know, again, like i said, there isn't really a focal point in the way that there was with the finance bill. and this really chilling effect, the fact that they are still at least 50, accounted for bodies at various works in the country. and even more people who are still being abducted or being disappeared. that certainly affects the interest of ordinary people and going out into the streets and protesting. so i think i agree with the panel is that there's certainly been acting down the take the time down the road. um, but there's something that they haven't really fundamentally address, but i don't even think that's the cabinet were shuffled. has done really anything. i think what it has done is it a piece is the political class, but, you know, responding to a social economic problem with a political solution. he hasn't actually addressed the social and the political problem, which is the fact that people were resisting their stars. he measures people were resisting the on balanced budgets, you know,
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the financial mismanagement of the country. and so i don't think it's actually addressed anything that what it has done isn't appeased for political class. and also one of the key problems have full. russo is that he was elected in on the promise that he would improve the standards of living for kenyans who was struggling to get by how was he failed to deliver on that? i think there's always a difference between the political retail rate cuz when you confront the governance reality and reality is better but a different change, the country was to christ is we don't find the comically i'm body said that was the reality. and i think because of that, there was a lot of hope, especially considering that said they contain hope, that kind of president united voters around this hassle, a novelty, but perhaps it was going to be able to deliver that good. so you know, in a very big country patient mind, but considering everything that has taken place, i think of canyons frustrated with the pace for the funds that if i said with that
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pay stub economic trust. and i don't see like going to be for trans grow. they've seen said been seeing them decline despite, you know, a fairly, you know, these tend to do it because you know, for the country. and so the disconnect between sometimes watching my curriculum makes maybe saying on what might great comics may be speaking to individuals has contributed to that frustration that all of clothes was you know, the finance being pretty much was kind of the aspects of that some top a lot of these prescriptions and t as i do agree with the my, my pup, the penalties that that was that you 19 as you know, object to didn't trying to display to bed. so, you know, beyond that, that also seem to be but even options of, i'm very clear object kids with, you know, we took, got to this purchase as what demonstrations i called kenya has the strongest
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economy in east africa. it's got a growing, ged, pits, invest of friends is entre canario was a little money that's precisely the question. i think, you know, when we are looking at it from a purely economic perspective, we really have to look at the previous administration of which the president was a pa, that's up to some degree. secondly, detached we saw an explosion in borrowing under the administration. approximately $42000000000.00, the flagship of which was this railway, which is a diesel motor to drill away frank, if you compare it to any other railway that's being bought in, in the last 10 years, it's about 50 is too old in terms of its style in terms of when it's deliberate, it wasn't even completed. so we sold a splash and borrowing any incredible exponential search and borrowing we saw a lot of money misspent. essentially the bill has come due and the president has
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the challenge that um, you know that that bill is due. he, he went to the, i and i went to the well bank go and deal with them. but part of that deal was to stick out taxes and people are saying, look, you know, you've got to be on the tolerance levels. the next step would be to reduce the government footprint and it's expenditure. but obviously from what we saw recently that will not be done and then typically the source of government's, of national unity or whatever you want to characterize as, as are, are losing party. and it will be highly unfortunate because then it will come found the problem. so we go to a very, very talented workforce, a country with a lot of promise, but unfortunately wouldn't deepen a whole. and it doesn't seem any one has got a spade the right space to get us out of it. not a job at a given the you have written a book on how the political system is out of touch with the new
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generation. how do you think politicians have been close off guard by these protests and by jen z being so politically engaged and demanding? so much of that politicians in a way, perhaps the previous generation didn't. i think what the technology has shifted is the ability of people to find each other and amplify each other and to sort of be able to be dissatisfied together in a way that under analog systems under you know, previous media regimes you wouldn't be able to do rates, you wouldn't be receiving information, but you wouldn't necessarily be connecting with your peers. you wouldn't be exchanging ideas. and that's one of the things that this particular mobilization has done. that is very, very distinct. that there's a lot of peer to peer communication education initiatives that people are taking to translate the payments bill was trying to read it into multiple languages across the country. and by volunteers,
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the initiatives that are being undertaken to share information and, and the young people really in various localities in the country have more in common today then they might have had 20 years ago just because of the way information circulates in the country. so that's really one big difference. that's called the, the political class off guard. but really, the other big difference is this idea that young people are stupids, and this is a pervasive idea in, in political systems all over the world that to be young is acquainted with to be uninformed, with being stupid. and really that is just consistently proven to be untrue. it's actually and by the way, she's untrue in kenya, it's enter pretty much everywhere else that use does not equate to, to being uninformed. and so really that's what's caught them off guard that the presumption was, you know, that age kind of walks in a certain wisdom in a certain perspective on, on issues. but really, you know, wisdom is not
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a function of age. you can find information, you can study things, you can understand things and in fact, and historically, people are out there most politically active when they are at university ages because they have the time and they have the tools to be able to engage with ideas and a much deeper way than people who are having to balance professional lives in children and, and all of that sort of thing. so i think that's one of the things that's caught them off guard. they just assumed that young people were stupid and young people that previously they are not. okay. yes. uh, an interesting you mentioned that because of course now with joblessness being so high it way in a 30 percent. so your young people, they still have the time to get angry and to get engaged in politics because the opportunities to get into a career and get decent paying jobs of just not the why is that house on? i think something that is important to you to not a that so you know, can you know, like many countries in these tops, okay. about 60 or 70 percent of the population is made up of young people by
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yourself. what under 30 years old and 10. yeah. it's turning out about 100, you know, or the median people, you know, every individual market, but they kind of mcgraw. so he's just not sufficient to be able to observe the numbers they don't because well we've missing coming from out there now outside of the growth and, but on the 10th a saying is going to be increasingly difficult for countries in the region, especially can, you may not be able to meet those demands. but at the same time, i think generally as society's, you know, we're moving a little bit too slow in responding to the new needs and as well as gilbert unities that the young people are required specially jumps up tomorrow. and so to the exchange that the house but not moving, we cannot be time solving each writing that macroeconomics and micro combs at meeting the demands. but we're also not moving in such a not to, you know, they don't pay more for trinity as well. yeah. because i like and just the ones jump in that if you can just jump in and dollar with what you want to say. yeah, i wanted to say that there's the most structural issue at play here,
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which is really that young people have been told that if they did x, y, z steps that they would achieve certain things and that able to unlock a certain lifestyle. today. in most countries in the world, in 10 years, certainly not an exception. people, young people are more educated than their parents on paper they earn more than their parents likes their, the numbers are higher than what their parents did. they've done all of the things that they what they wanted they were told to do. and that's what i'm talk. i said in my stuff and those lifestyle is on there. in african countries or particular crisis is emerging because there are people who are too educated. there's not enough land for people to be farming is they've been told that agriculture is not an option and control that is being shifted towards private ownership towards mass corporate ownership. but at the same time as house and this thing, none of these to the blue collar jobs are before white color jobs are being made available, or even high quality blue color drops are being made available to young people. so in addition to all of the sort of issues, we also have to talk about the structural in the qualities that are being created
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by the social economic systems that have been adopted in the global majority. and, you know, fundamentally what it is, is the promise that was made to young people that hasn't been delivered anywhere else. and my argument has, has always been in this issues that we're paying attention to kenya now. but this is a crisis that the whole world needs to pay attention to between climate change between instructional and equality, between the lack of opportunities that are being generated by the macro economic model that's being embraced around the world. we are heading for a global crisis because okay, vast majority of people in the world are below the age of 35 icon. if i could just pick up on what $9.00 saying about western structures being imposed on the global sales, if you will. what is the perception and kenya the, the, i am asked that the world buying ca, calling the shots and forcing the government to make will start to see measure spending costs when perhaps it's not best for the country itself. so absolutely, the perception is being that this is a redux of the,
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of the eighty's and ninety's when the i imacs and the well by large the around the show. and so many said, well, countries, however, i think that's on the well, we really have ones going to look at the originals in the original sin balls. that essentially the previous government inherited a very, very solid balance sheet. and they just went crazy with the credit card. the country was in a very good place, a few years. and i would say 1015 years ago it was growing. foster taxes were low, and the leaky bucket administration. you, what the economy was being run. ultimately. we then went into a situation where we blew the money. i remember the previous president told me about how to slip in japan, and we can borrow a notice a similar amount of money. obviously we clipped, and there was this mix out that we could just borrow as much as we wanted. we
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myspace to now we're having to pay the bill and the complaint guy and that will buy is a little bit unset, because ultimately there was nobody else debate us out. international markets weren't interested at the domestic market content, much more borrowing. i mean, already we're paying interest rates of the government is paying interest rates of 18. 19 percent in the local market. so we had to go to the lender last result. there were no other options but not to look behind. the reasons i think has been, has been an issue for me because it just means we're unable really to die. there's the problem. and the problem was very simple, that economic economically easily for leadership. and we're paying the price for that. now. how sudden the massive over spending is already con, says what problem as well does corruption lead to because that is and then them, it felt them in kenya, it is not being addressed properly by successive governments. how difficult is it
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to root out the company just but so for quite some time now we've been living beyond our means. the problem is that the deal module, some times what we've been getting utterly in terms of taxes as well as the own beetle hospice, appeared to corrupt dental practices at a the procurement you know, or contracting. and that'd be cds. h has an important matter. as soon as they don't know, ability to be able to put resources together for development projects today as we speak, the development budget is likely pretty small on a large um, the percentage of the money we're collecting is going to wasp servicing. so this house be serious and it is part of the reason that i think has inspired they purchased movement. you see because corruption has also been one of the big kitchen items. uh for those were purchasing the streets. i think there is a mix. the there was extremely public debt in kenya, we're looking at 78000000000 dollars, 70 percent of the g d p. how does the government go about we paying that?
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if not with taxes, then it doesn't have a revenue problem. kenya has an expenditure problem. can you has a problem and how would prioritize is spending it? has they were over spending on the legislature, canyon legislatures are the highest 2nd highest paid it a relative to gdp in the world. we're overpaying. we have a bloated of the administration precisely because it was a new lead compact. this idea that we would diffuse competition for the presidency by moving some of that competition down into gubernatorial. it's m c a. it's an enormous government that, you know, 48000000 people don't need this much govern government. there's an over government problem and the spending that is being done is being spent on the things that are not really a financial priority at the moment. i think that if you look at, for example, when they did the bad thing for the cabinet secretaries and they looked at the rate
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at which the privates, in a finances of all of these cabinet secretaries have grown 2 and a half years. 38 percent average. that's a question that needs to be asked. where did this money come from? how are people who are in charge of government able to grow their pipe personal finances by 38 percent in 2 and a half years. while the rest of the country is actually shrinking, that needs to be addressed, are we taking care of farm is this is an every cultural country. why on farm is able to get a decent deal on teeth, coffee, mays of all of these key crops. there's a problem there with a big ministration, with a tolerance for government and it goes back to what the missing management, sorry, and goes back to what are the conversations. one of the ways in which this administration was able to get into power was because it made a series of deals, political deals with people. and those people go into government expecting to get money back that they put into getting elected. they're not there because they want to govern properly. they're not there because we want to be properly they there
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because they want to grow their personal finances. so ordinary people are being asked to foot the bill for the lead compact. read the fund dimensions of what needs to be done is to healed. to close the chapter in 2007 to stop using the government as a way to pay back, you know, political cronies and to go back to the fundamentals of government. why do we have a government spending aware of it? okay, i did con, i mean, but it, it fills up the changes that were to, has made so far would for the finance bill, we shopping, the government hasn't really touched the sides of the deep boot at the moms of the people. what is the most urgent thing that we would say needs to do in order to properly quote this on rest? but i think the 1st thing you should have done was to point to the completely different set of people to these very important positions. i mean i listen to the punching process and indeed i think it be the. busy it's made by most of these folks about the administrators to which they are being appointed with super special
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one. i saw the plaintive opinions out there was supremely qualified to have been appointed to those positions. so i think that's the 1st thing. the 2nd thing is, i think he's got to think beyond this elite bob getting a sense, independence type of thing to you. it's just not going to work. it's a very short term band aid. you should have reached out to the majority of these people along the streets or the majority of the country. they're articulating their requirements. and i think just to think they're gonna wear them down in a use a haven't visited the approach and the street is going to what i don't think it's going to work. and then finally, i think, you know, with respect to the depth profile, because that is really the intractable problem. he's not going to be able to tax his way back to, to a sustainable economy. he's going to have to go to the i m f and well back and say guys, i need a longer lead time. he's going to have to look for some debt forgiveness and he's
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going to have to stop negotiating on that front without those 3 that side effect of i don't think this solution is going anywhere. okay, well we will have to say whether he adults, any of those moves, many things in jollin, the bullet has some kind of m j and ali concepts you and thank you to for watching . you can see the program again any time by visiting a website that solves is there a dot com and provide the discussion that goes well facebook page that facebook dot com forward slash ha inside story. it wasn't during the conversation on x on homeless at a inside story from me laura kyle and the whole team here. bye for now the a sense of belonging. we always look for ways to be together and be every day heroes. keeping communities together is took,
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the laptop is transforming every day in the 1st part of the series of just 0 visits is a lot. but in mexico city, where locals are turning on a torrijos municipality to an urban utopia, a sense of community on the jersey to. now, scientists say primates remain crucial for biomedical research. the but some of being given new lights beyond the bodies. on the outskirts of virus is nothing in the century for all kinds of phantom moves, including those ones used in scientific research. the century houses 22 retired live monkeys from across europe. this female racism a gas cause can survive 19 joseph experimentation in french labs. she was the 1st lab funky to be given a new form at lot, then yet the,
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the in the end to live with and, and bitterness of hatred. it if you up inside. and i can tell you that from person experience, you have to be able to let go to go for the journey was a great success. but there's no success until you've achieved the actual thing that you set out for. that is the release, at least of the one present that we've been focusing on on a personal level,
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i think returning to this place as being the, it's just a dream to the background part of it was a nightmare. so it's a nightmare and a dream come together. i think the dream has overtaken the night that the, [000:00:00;00] the civil venue is good to have you with us. this is the news. life from bill coming up in the next 16 minutes. it's time to end the suffering. international mediators pushed for a renewed gaza ceasefire on the ground is really forces launched a new military offensive in the southern city of san eunice,

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