We take our seats. Your Excellency the President, this is a great day. This is a journey that started just after you were inaugurated as the President of the Republic of Kenya. We've had a lot of engagements culminating in this ceremony, which is the signing of the lease agreement and the commercial agreement between the Kenya Railways Group and the Zarya Group. Your Excellency, this is a major milestone in the operationalization of the Nairobi Railway City, the first mega master-planned development in Nairobi as part of the new plan. So, Your Excellency, without further ado, allow me to request—it's a very short ceremony—to allow our Governor of Nairobi, Johnson Sakaja, who is a great partner in this journey, to come and say a few remarks.
Thank you very much, Your Excellency, Cabinet Secretaries, Masai, and your team. Your Excellency, this is a dream come true for Nairobi. I know the PS has said discussions started after you were inaugurated, but the real discussions had been going on for a long time. Masai will tell you we've discussed this in Nairobi, in New York, in Kigali, across the world over two administrations. And I will not say who he was talking about, but at some point he said he spoke to us and he spoke to our neighbors back then. We had many stories. Our neighbors took it up, and if you go to Kigali and see what they were able to do with the BK Arena, it really should have started in Nairobi. The arena that we are looking at is really part of the vibe of the city. This city is not just the buildings and the infrastructure. It's the people. Nairobi has a vibe. Nairobi has a sound. Nairobi has a spirit. And this arena that will bring in basketball, events, functions is at the right heart of our region. Nairobi is a natural place for this arena. Nairobi is 8 hours from London, 8 hours from Amsterdam. It is 14 hours to New York, but 12 hours from New York to Nairobi. I think it's because it's downhill. So the pilot just presses the clutch and it's shorter by 2 hours. Of course, it's because of how the world moves. I've gone to the arena in Kigali. Your Excellency, if you see the action there, the passion, the youth, the groups that have been mentored through basketball, and Masai, who is the president of the Toronto Raptors—I think you still are, aren't you? Former president of the Toronto—we've also had this discussion in Canada. Your Excellency, I went to Toronto. Masai, who is the former president of the Toronto Raptors, will tell you what such a facility brings in terms of the economy. Everybody who comes says it is easier to get to Nairobi from any part of the world and do what you want to do here instead of jumping here and going to any other part of Africa. This arena is going to make Nairobi the heart of basketball in Africa. And I'm sure that that is going to be a reality sooner rather than later. Now, I know the Kigali one was done in 6 months, and I don't know why we're doing ours in 12 months, but we want it done sooner rather than later. The young people, not just of Nairobi but of this entire region from Mombasa, Kisumu, Kaloleni, Kigali, Dar es Salaam, are going to have their capital in Nairobi City County. So, Excellency, we want to thank you. It's been a good week for Nairobi. It's been a magnificent week for our city, and we are seeing a change that is happening. We used to say that Nairobi is going to be Africa's New York, but we want to change that. Nairobi is going to be Africa's Nairobi. It is a place that everybody will want to be. So, we're looking forward to this project. Thank you, Excellency, because you're the person who's made it happen. Even the late Baba Masai will tell you we've had discussions around this same story. The former president had our discussions around the same story. You have done it. It is easy to talk. It is real when you get it done. And you're really teaching us something in leadership: just get it done. Just do it. One of the logos I like and the slogans of Nike, you know, the Nike apparel company, they have their tick and they say, 'Yesterday you said tomorrow, just do it.' So we thank you, Your Excellency, for just getting it done. Masai, I'll be with you on site every day to make sure that this project comes to fruition in less than 12 months. We are happy on behalf of the people of Nairobi. We thank you and we look forward to this coming to life. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much, Governor Sakaja. Your Excellency, now allow me to invite Masai to come and make a few remarks. I know he's not a man of many words, but this is a great occasion. I must say, I just say something.
Thank you. Your Excellency, I want to say, all cabinet members, all protocol observed. This is—I'm actually overwhelmed. Excellency, we've had this journey, as Governor said, for many, many years, and you have made this possible. Many people have made this possible behind the scenes. I want to thank you, PSA, for all the action, Governor Sakaja, Minister Chirchir, all the people that have really played an incredible part to this. I want to thank the MD, Manga, my guy in railway. This is historical. This is momentous. You know, when you say this arena is going to be used for basketball, it's just a small part. In Africa, we don't understand sports entertainment and the creative industry as a business. This is a business. This is going to become an economic driver. This is going to become the hub not only of the city, county, of Africa. Of Africa. The center, the middle of Nairobi. Yes. This is going to move the youth of this country. Yes. You give them a place to speak, to enjoy, to have free mind. Yes. To express themselves. It's one thing that sports, entertainment, and the creative industry does—it brings peace and it brings us together. It brings joy. Your Excellency, what you have done here is momentous. It's going to be incredible for us, for our people, and for the rest of Africa. President Kagame and Kigali and the Kigali Arena have done an incredible job of at least starting this for us. Now, we have a tour. We will have a tour. We will have artists, games, events, people that can travel from one country to the other and perform and play and be happy. Yeah. So Kenya, Nairobi, my mom's country, which is my country. I'm a son of Kenya. We promise the youth and the people of this country. This is not something that is fakely done. We have done this. We have gone through the right process in this country. I've done it properly. It's taking time. And we're going to build this. And the president is building this. Everybody is building this for the people. Yes. And for the youth of this country. So for everybody here that has played an incredible part to this, I say thank you. Thank you for welcoming us. I promise you that on our part, we will do our job. Thank you so much and thank you, Your Excellency. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Masai, for those words spoken right from the heart. Your Excellency, when I was appointed as a PS in 2018, one of the first assignments I had was to complete this master plan. But translating that master plan into action has taken the leadership of our Cabinet Secretary, who has taken this thing to heart. So allow me to invite him to come and make his remarks.
