EP 5 African News Review I Adesoji Speaks Knowledge 🌍

In this episode of African News Review, Adesoji Iginla and Milton Allimadi discussed various news stories related to African countries. 

They cover topics such as the Neocolonial railway boom in Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa's plans to turn South Africa into a construction site, and Total's involvement in Mozambique and Uganda. 

The hosts provided critical analysis and highlight the need for African countries to prioritize industrialization and job creation. 

They also discussed the importance of addressing the land issue and the role of Western media in shaping narratives about African countries. The conversation in this part focuses on the environmental impact of an oil project in Uganda's national parks and the political situation in Kenya. The oil project, led by French energy giant Total Energies, involves drilling over 400 oil wells in Uganda's largest national park, leading to displacement of over 120,000 people and severe environmental damage. 

The conversation touched on the challenges faced by Kenyan President William Ruto, including protests against tax raising legislation and the possibility of facing charges at the International Criminal Court. 

The conversation ended with a brief discussion on the recent political developments in the United States, including the rise of Vice President Kamala Harris as a potential presidential candidate.

00:00 Introduction and Overview

01:26 Neocolonial Railway Boom in Africa

03:33 The Land Issue in African Countries

08:05 Industrialization and Job Creation

14:47 The Influence of Western Media on African Narratives

32:16 Total Energy's security apparatus in Mozambique

43:22 Total Energy's Devastating Environmental Impact in Uganda

43:50 Environmental Impact of Oil Project in Uganda's National Parks

49:09 Challenges Faced by Kenyan President William Ruto

01:00:50 Political Developments in the United States: Rise of Kamala Harris

Transcript

Adesoji Iginla (00:02.348)
Yes, good evening. Good evening and welcome again to another episode of African News Review. And this is the news program where we look at African news in the Western media. And with me as always is comrade, broadcaster, publisher, author, explorer, you name it. He is one and only Milton Alimadi. Welcome,

Milton Allimadi (00:31.884)
As

Adesoji Iginla (00:34.188)
Yes. And I mean, we've had an interesting couple of days in the news, not least in your neck of the woods. We'll come to that shortly, but let's go to the African continent, which is the basis of this program. And our first news story today comes

Milton Allimadi (00:42.192)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (00:57.282)
Basically, Africa all in the sense that we've got businesses now threatening the United States and China now threatening a railway boom of sorts on the African continent. Why does that make the news? According to The Economist, American tensions are playing out on the tracks, it says.

Milton Allimadi (01:05.998)
you

Adesoji Iginla (01:26.734)
The lead begins. Every inhabitant of Thies wrote a Senegalese novelist, Ousmane Sembene, in 1960, dependent on the railway. Like many African cities, Thies was a product of the continent's first and colonial era railroad revolution. The French built railway that ran through its stretch from the Senegalese port of Dhaka to Mali, deep in the

ferries, peanuts, gold, and other raw materials to the coast for exports. It goes further. Africa's entire rail network is today only slightly larger than France and Germany combined. In West Africa, only one cross -border line is still working. By one estimate, investments of up to $105 billion a year until 2050 are needed if Africa's network density is to match

China's or India's. Yet between 2012 and 2022, total private investment in rail infrastructure was no more than 6 billion, according to the World Bank. This is where it gets interesting. In Angola, a 1 ,300 kilometer colonial railway from the port of Lubito across the border to the copper mines of Congo is being revamped. In

Officials hope that 800 kilometers of track will soon be laid from the Northern Copper Belt to the border with Angola. The American government is funding at least $250 million of the $2 .3 billion price tag, making the Lobito Corridor, as the projects are collectively known, the largest ever infrastructure investment on the continent. It is also proving

It is also a proving ground for the theory that competition between West and China will benefit Africans. First things first. Let me get Brother Milton's reaction before I go for

Milton Allimadi (03:33.656)
Okay, well first of all, you cannot talk about U .S. President St. Benedict and mention now, he's mentioned a railroad without elaborating that he was anti -imperialist and anti -capitalist at the same time. You know, it's just nonsense. You're abusing his name by saying that. It's like mentioning Nelson Mandela.

and not saying that he was a champion fighter against apartheid. It's complete nonsense, disingenuous, right? It almost leaves the implication that Sembene would have supported more building of such railroads under colonial rule. And that in fact he was a capitalist, which of course he was not. In fact, he was a socialist. was even Marxist and Leninist, I think. So that's disingenuous, number one. Number two, you cannot talk about colonial railways.

Adesoji Iginla (04:21.774)
Sure, sure, sure.

Milton Allimadi (04:30.684)
and leave the impression as if they were beneficial. You know, it's completely absurd. First of all, tens of thousands of Africans died building those railroads. I think building the one from the coast to Brazzaville in French Congo, as many as 20 ,000 Africans died before that railroad was finished construction.

Adesoji Iginla (04:43.842)
as we realize.

Milton Allimadi (04:59.898)
And then they were not allowed to use the trains themselves, exclusively for Europeans. So obviously, these are people who have no empathy or sympathy for the African experience. So that alone raises red flags for what is to come after that. And then, of course, it goes on to lay the same

Adesoji Iginla (05:06.318)
Yes.

Milton Allimadi (05:28.582)
construct. In this case, not even your colonial, it's colonial. The colonial railways were built to go to the location of the resources and to extract the resources out of the country. And that's exactly what they're doing once again. They are calling this a boom. It's not a boom. It's very specific. These monies being invested are not throwing dots against the wall.

Adesoji Iginla (05:31.105)
You

Milton Allimadi (05:55.524)
They know where it's going, they know exactly what they're going to get for these investments. There's no risk at all. The returns are going to be very, very, very soon and very, very fast. Because as you know, the countries mentioned produce much of the world's essential mineral resources, particularly in this era of electric cars, copper and cobalt. Once you mentioned

Adesoji Iginla (05:55.565)
Fox.

Adesoji Iginla (06:15.128)
Mineral resources, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (06:25.614)
Angola, Congo, that's it. You have the market cornered. And that is why the United States is once again making this significant investment on the African continent, such an investment that it's never made before. As you know, most of the major railway construction projects in Africa, whether it was the one in, beginning with the one in Tanzania in the 1970s, Tanzania -Zambia Railroad.

that was built by China, the major one in Ethiopia, and then the one going from Ethiopia to Djibouti as well, that was built by China, the one in Kenya that was built by China. So now the US, of course, is doing it because the United States are afraid that China was cornering the market for copper and for cobalt. And that's why the US is spending this

Adesoji Iginla (06:56.418)
Yeah, for free.

Adesoji Iginla (07:19.182)
So you don't see any altruistic spending too.

Milton Allimadi (07:23.228)
Absolutely not. And actually, we don't even need that. But what we need is actually the kind of money that the economist is talking about. Talking about what was it? 100 billion per year until 2050. If that kind of money went into building factories in African countries, can you imagine how many jobs would be created?

You know, a lot of these railway jobs, a lot of them are going to go to technical people who are going to be well, if the railway is built by traditionally, it's been built by China. And as you know, they brought a lot of Chinese workers. So imagine if they're putting their money, they're going to many Western so -called experts for these jobs as well. We need investment that creates jobs for Africans, investments that create sustaining jobs.

Adesoji Iginla (08:05.975)
I know,

Milton Allimadi (08:23.9)
Because once you built the railway, okay, now you're extracting resources and you're selling it at prices that you yourself don't control, right? Now let's say, what, 10, 15, 20 years, we shift to a new product. Now nobody's that much interested in your copper and cobalt. As you know, with these resources, the price is cyclical. There's always a peak. And then when they shift to other products,

Adesoji Iginla (08:32.76)
Yes?

Adesoji Iginla (08:47.81)
Yep. And then it

Milton Allimadi (08:53.212)
then of course there's a drop, as you said. We can't depend on that kind of economic model for development. We need to create factories, build factories that use our resources to produce, and now we producing a lot more. And now you're actually, first of all, increasing the domestic economic activity within each and every African country. And then after

Adesoji Iginla (08:57.262)
which impacts,

Milton Allimadi (09:22.16)
So then you're increasing in inter -African trade amongst African countries and between African countries, you see? And that's what we need to

Adesoji Iginla (09:35.246)
OK, I would like to touch on this last aspect here. America hopes real investment can pull the resource -rich region into its orbit and secure the minerals critical for the transition to green energy, which is what you alluded to earlier. Africa is home to around 30 % of the world's mineral resources. Zambia and Congo are Africa's largest producer of copper, which is used in solar panels and wind turbines.

Congo is the world's largest producer of cobalt, which is used in batteries for electric vehicles. And Angola has 36 of the 51 minerals critical to renewable energy technologies. Can you imagine? And the last but not... my

Milton Allimadi (10:18.768)
Yep, think about that. We're sitting on all the wealth we need, we just don't have control over it. We don't use it to produce the stuff that they use it to produce and then they sell it back to us at exponentially higher prices.

Adesoji Iginla (10:35.374)
Now there was one part that stood out to me in this article, which is the last part then we'll move on. It's that the government in Guinea, like those in Angola and Zambia, is keen to reduce the dominance of Chinese mining companies and to diversify its foreign partners. Last year, it renegotiated the license for a 20 billion iron ore mine in order to ensure that the consortium of Chinese firms teams up with Rio Tinto.

a Western mining giant to jointly finance more than 600 kilometers of fresh tracks from the pit to the sea. The mining companies are expected to provide freight and passenger services, said Gerard Reinberger, the managing director of the Rio Tinto's Guinea operations. The idea, notes a Western diplomat, is that the so -called Trans -Guinea Railway should not take iron.

just take eye onto the port but open up the interiors of the country as well. Are we supposed to believe that?

Milton Allimadi (11:42.202)
Well, that's ideally what we want, but that is still not sufficient. Just moving Africa from one part of the country to another in itself does not translate into development. So missing in this entire article is industrialization. Railways in Europe, in the United States led

the growth of urban centers, they brought these workers who were then employed in these factories, who are then producing manufactured output. was increasing the GDP of these countries, right? And the GNP, because now they're increasing their exports as well. And that's what Africa needs. And that, of course, is what is not going to be mentioned in this article.

Adesoji Iginla (12:35.786)
Yeah, I mean, this is the economist after all, the money paper.

Milton Allimadi (12:41.434)
Right, so that's a little bit of public relations to say, see, now we are even talking economic development. What economic development? Just by moving people from one part of the country to the other.

Adesoji Iginla (12:54.86)
Well, I mean, they're moving people from one side of the country to use them just like the mineral resources, they are moving from the pit to the port. So the people are just enhancing that movement. so they're not, it's not like the economic fabric of that community or the country in general is going to benefit from the entire project. After all, you're, you've been given your pitons. It just...

Milton Allimadi (13:04.986)
Yep, exactly.

Milton Allimadi (13:23.856)
Yeah, I mean, it's nonsense. It's like, OK, before we could not move people from Nairobi to Mombasa on the coast. Now we have a railroad. Now we're going to be moving people from Nairobi to Mombasa, from Mombasa back to Eldorado or Nakuru or Kisumu in Kenya. And that's supposed to translate automatically into economic development. It's just pure nonsense.

Adesoji Iginla (13:41.966)
Mm -hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (13:49.526)
Well, I mean, we're supposed to be elite, so we're supposed to be thinking like them. Because once you see the names of these countries in newspapers, that means they are aware of you. And somehow that should translate into understanding that you're part of the global system.

Milton Allimadi (14:07.588)
Right, but they know how they developed and they know how Africa could really develop. So when they leave it out, it's intentional to continue to mislead people. I say whenever you read anything in the Western press, the Western media, just remember one thing. Are they talking about building factories in Africa?

Adesoji Iginla (14:16.098)
Hmm. Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (14:33.628)
removing that dependency that Africa has on manufactured products. If that's not mentioned, the article is worthless. It's just propaganda. It's public relations.

Adesoji Iginla (14:44.942)
You're way too kind. You're way too kind. Okay. From Angola, we move south of Angola and we go to the country of Nelson Mandela, South Africa. And in the next article, it reads from the Financial Times and reads, Cyril Ramaphosa vows to turn the country into a construction site. Now.

Milton Allimadi (14:47.494)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (15:15.564)
Spare me. Presence of pro -market democratic alliance in president coalition is fueling business optimism. Wow. South Africa's in the lead. South Africa's president, Cyril Ramaphosa, delivered a strong pro -business message in his first state of the nation address as head of a coalition government singling out the country's economic revival as the main priority of his final five -year

Ramaphosa pled to reindustrialize South Africa after a decade of GDP growth of less than 1%. He pledged to cut the red tape that prevented skilled foreigners from getting work visas over all the functional municipalities and massively increase the scale of investment in infrastructure, a new role under the DA's Dean MacPherson.

the new minister of public works. The echoes of what McPherson told the parliament the day before, in which he revealed plans to attract 10 billion rand, about 57 million US dollars, in private sector investment to build new energy, communications, water, and transport infrastructure. Now contrast this with what Ramaphosa would then say. Where is it? There's a part there

Okay, it's at the top where he is saying he intends to... Let me see. Yeah. Okay, so Ramaphosa is saying, have a clear intention to turn our country into construction site. Ramaphosa said we want to see yellow equipment throughout the country and cranes with roads being built as well as dams, bridges, houses, schools and hospitals. On the other hand, Mr. MacPherson is

The private sector investment is to build new energy, communications, water and transport infrastructure. Who are we supposed to believe

Milton Allimadi (17:25.584)
Okay, well, you know, both of them are basically speaking the same language. So, you know, there's not much contradiction there. They're talking about, you know, investment and they're just elaborating different sectors of the infrastructural system. And obviously, I have my reservations in terms of what was mentioned even

And number one, first of all, before even going to the, what they're talking in terms of the economic model or policies that they're going to pursue.

Which publication is this? Financial Times. Okay, so the Financial Times and the Economist and the New York Times have been, of course, know, playing the race card in a very clever way. Whenever they say the press, okay, so this one they got much more explicit. Before they formed

Adesoji Iginla (18:10.712)
This is Financial Times, of London.

Adesoji Iginla (18:38.286)
coalition.

Milton Allimadi (18:38.342)
coalition, it was the pro -business democratic alliance, right? That's the party, the DA. So now, Financial Times is telling us that there's optimism, right? Because of the presence of the pro -business democratic alliance. In plain English, for listeners who

Adesoji Iginla (19:03.15)
They don't trust

Milton Allimadi (19:07.416)
are not yet up to par in terms of translating what these Western European media mean when they say what they say, let me translate it to them. The presence of the pro -business democratic alliance in the government is generating hope. They're saying the presence of Europeans in the government of Syriza. They're saying

If these things were just being said by Africans and you had African ministers, then there would be no ground for optimism. But now you can be a little more hopeful because now we have Europeans and Africans involved in government. And that's what they mean when they say, of course, they can't say it. can't say, now that, you know, they're actually six ministries reserved for this white party.

Adesoji Iginla (19:55.864)
You

Milton Allimadi (20:06.448)
The prospects are much more better now. So we have some hope, you see. All right, so I wanted to get that off the ground very quickly. And then let's go to the other part. As sisters and brothers know, there has been many eruptions of xenophobic display in South Africa where

African system brothers from other parts of the continent have been attacked. They've been accused of taking jobs from South Africans and contributing to their impoverishment. Of course, they're directing their anger at fellow people who are also picking the crumbs that drop off the table. They're not directing their anger at those that monopolize

in South Africa, which of course include the European elite as well as the new African elite of which Siru Lama Fosso himself is a key member of that new black bourgeoisie. So what do they say? They know that you can't be saying South Africa should open up its doors, its borders, so they qualify it. They say,

skilled foreigners, right? You're stopping skilled foreigners with your bureaucracy. No, no, we agree with you. Let these Africans stay in Nigeria, stay in Zambia, Zimbabwe. We don't need any more Africans here. But the skilled foreigners is another, of course, euphemism for European expatriates, you see?

Adesoji Iginla (21:51.714)
Good for you, Nost.

Adesoji Iginla (21:59.278)
The end.

Milton Allimadi (22:01.99)
So if any listener was careless enough, reader, and not to pick that up, that is the second thing. And then of course, in terms of if they're going to build the infrastructure and they're already telling you that where the money is going to be coming from, it's going to be coming from outside, right? In what shape and form are you going to be increasing the debt burden for South Africans?

And of course, the low income folks who are going to be taxed, because everybody's taxed at a certain level, right? We'll have to repay this debt. And in terms of creating jobs, initially there could be some upsurge, even though I won that. You have the...

I don't have total confidence in a party whose leadership is essentially white in telling me that the European Minister of Public Works is going to be sort of egalitarian when people are being hired for these new jobs in the infrastructure and rebuilding in South Africa. So I wait to see that. But to me, at the end of the day,

anything that South Africa does without addressing the issue of the land, I see it as temporary and superficial. And I don't think that Ramaphosa is going to finish his five -year

Adesoji Iginla (23:47.47)
Wow, that's quite an indictment. mean, the reason I, that Mark Ferris issue of him saying they intend to attract 10 billion rand for private sector investments to build energy, communications, water and transportation. But if you contrast that with the fact that the president is then saying the investment they're hoping to

is going to go into roads, dams, bridges, homes. One is talking public sector, and the other one is saying, you don't really know what you're talking about. We're talking about money -making schemes. So already, like you said, it's highly unlikely that he will finish his five -year term if this kind of schism is already showing based on initial statements being made by both of them in the parliament.

Milton Allimadi (24:44.634)
Yeah, to me the biggest issue is going to be the land issue. When it comes to how they deploy investment funds or foreign aid funds or World Bank IMF funds, that to me is a battle of the elite. But when it comes to actually giving people a part of the

That is going to be the challenge. That's where the line is really drawn in the sand. One party saying, no, we oppose that. And the other party was created, in fact, the African National Congress to address that issue. And that's, to me, that's going to be the clash where, know, Rama Fossa will come upon that wall.

Adesoji Iginla (25:34.602)
Vale isso.

Milton Allimadi (25:40.454)
He won't be able to answer that question. I mean, right now, there's no focus on it because media are not focusing on it. Of course, as you recall, when, because just because they don't talk about it doesn't mean we shouldn't bring it in the news because if we don't, nobody else will. When Mugabe and Zimbabwe was being demonized during the land seizure.

Adesoji Iginla (25:59.779)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (26:10.044)
when they were taking the land from Europeans and giving it back to Africans. And they were talking about the violence that was involved in that. In fact, statistically picking, think the violence against European farmers in South Africa was probably five or 10 times higher than what was going on in Zimbabwe. But that was not covered because they didn't want

say, wait a minute, this issue is not confined to Zimbabwe alone. This issue is in South Africa. This issue is in Namibia. Issues in Kenya, where the European elite still monopolize the land. And that, of course, would have diluted the intensity of the vitriol and focus, only that this is exclusively a Mugabe created.

Adesoji Iginla (26:47.626)
Now maybe I, yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (26:55.542)
Zambia as

Adesoji Iginla (27:01.804)
of the pressure on Zimbabwe.

Milton Allimadi (27:08.444)
problem, you see? So now they're talking about all these infrastructure, building and so on and so forth, just in order to avoid addressing the elephant in the room, which is the land. And the article, I think at one point is talking about the dire economic conditions in South Africa. It's talking about unemployment at

Adesoji Iginla (27:09.602)
Mm -hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (27:31.746)
Yep.

Milton Allimadi (27:39.017)
and once again deceiving readers who are not familiar with the facts. It's

But the pain is not shared equally. If you look at only the black African population, it's more like 40 % unemployment. The Europeans who make up 7 .2 % of the population, their unemployment level is only 7 .4%. So why would you not mention that fact? You see? The lies, you get lies by omission.

Adesoji Iginla (27:48.588)
I'm on. We call it.

Adesoji Iginla (28:13.4)
I mean, to

Milton Allimadi (28:18.076)
leaving the far -fetched that all South Africans are suffering

Adesoji Iginla (28:28.212)
And to put a final point to it, it would be a question

When does the country actually have a say about what needs to be done? Because yes, elections have been held since 1994.

Milton Allimadi (28:47.12)
Yeah, that's a very good question. That's a very good question. And that is a problem in much of Africa. You know, that's why I keep maintaining that these countries are have artificial independence, independence on paper alone. So you see the Financial Times, the Economist, all of them are speaking on behalf of Cyril Ramaphosa. In this case, after he said something,

They said he's echoing something which had already been said earlier by the European minister.

Adesoji Iginla (29:22.702)
I mean,

Milton Allimadi (29:28.892)
But they're it's so deep -seated that they don't see it. They have zero sensitivity, number one. Number two, they don't care.

They don't care about your trifling feelings, you know.

Adesoji Iginla (29:45.526)
So it's, you know, we've said it, and tough luck. speaking of...

Milton Allimadi (29:51.804)
There's nothing you can do

Milton Allimadi (29:56.252)
because not many people would translate it explicitly and make clear what they're actually saying. So think about it. It took 30 years, then the history of apartheid disappeared as if there was not apartheid. When is the last time they mentioned

Adesoji Iginla (30:16.428)
Hardly any, hardly ever.

Milton Allimadi (30:18.17)
right? And the brutality of apartheid. They only bring it up and they're very good at what they do, I have to admit. When they bring up apartheid, they always say when Mandela became the first president. And what did he do? He had a government of national unity. You see?

Adesoji Iginla (30:21.282)
The legacy of.

Milton Allimadi (30:42.556)
without elaborating that why did he see the need to have a government or national unity. What had happened for centuries and then particularly in 1948 after apartheid became official, it's all gone. So you read The Economist, you say, I read The Economist, but you're not really reading it because you're not reading it carefully.

Adesoji Iginla (31:00.184)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (31:11.366)
You read the Financial Times, but you're not really reading it. You're just looking at the words. Exactly, you're browsing. You're reading, but you're not reading. You know? Yes, you need to read in capital letters. Not just R is capital, and then EAD is lowercase. No. It has to be all caps.

Adesoji Iginla (31:17.228)
you're browsing.

Adesoji Iginla (31:23.982)
Read the language. Read the language.

Milton Allimadi (31:40.154)
bolded with exclamation marks. Otherwise we will perish, telling you.

Adesoji Iginla (31:48.182)
Okay. Speaking of not perishing, we go to Southeast Africa. We go to Mozambique, the land of Samoramachel. And they've been in the news lately and it's to do with our friend, Mr. Kagame. Again, this story comes from the Financial Times and the story is titled, Total Hands, Otao being

the oil firm from France, hands security contract for 20 billion Mozambique gas project to Rwanda state linked business. Kigali pursues commercial expansion in the country after its army helped put down Islamic insurgency. Put a pin in that one, I would shed some light there.

Calaf, editor of the Financial Times, selects her favorite stories in this weekly newspaper. And this story was filed in by Tom Wilson in London. A security company backed by the Rwandans ruling party has been hired to guide Total's energy giant gas project in Mozambique as Kigali continues its commercial expansion in the country three years after its army helped put down an Islamic insurgency.

After an attack by Islamic insurgents on the neighboring town of Palma killed dozens of people, including foreign contractors working on the project. Total declared force majeure and put the project in 2021. Rwanda has subsequently deployed more than 4 ,000 troops to secure the region under an agreement between Mozambique's president, Philippe Nusi, and his Rwanda counterpart, Paul Kagame.

The former rebel commander has crushed political opposition in the country, but has won praise in some circles that's referring to Rwanda for improving Rwanda's economy and building a ruthlessly efficient bureaucracy. He was recently elected for fourth term this week, winning 99 % of the vote according to preliminary results, after which at least three prominent opposition candidates were banned from running.

Adesoji Iginla (34:08.448)
Many unanswered questions about the arrangement between Maputo and Kigali related to the Rwanda security deployment in Cabo Del Garde. The total lack of transparency feeds ongoing speculation about the kind of concessions, contracts, and forward mortgaging of LNG income flow that has been secured by Rwanda interest. Isco Global is one of the several Rwanda companies to have established subsidiaries

Mozambique since 2021 in sectors including security, construction, and mining. The parent company Intersec Security Company was established in 1995, a year after Akigame's RPF took power from the Hutu -led government. Intersec is a subsidiary of Crystal Ventures, an investment group founded by the party which dominates many parts of the Rwanda economy. What do see happening here?

Milton Allimadi (35:06.949)
Okay,

Mozambique, the article is actually telling us that Mozambique, which by the way, I don't even know the total value of that liquid gas mine, one of the largest in the world. So let's go with 20 plus billion, right? There's no way that Rwanda is not going to get at least 10 % of that in the long run.

Adesoji Iginla (35:22.424)
Mm hmm. The world,

Adesoji Iginla (35:28.416)
Okay,

Milton Allimadi (35:40.476)
Right? Absolutely. Without it, know, without the, you know, I'm Kagame, I would say without my soldiers, there's no money for anybody. Right? So why should I not be entitled to 10 %? Otherwise, I'll just withdraw my troops and that's it. But of course, he needs them just as much as they need him. They need each other. Total.

Adesoji Iginla (35:40.59)
because of the muscle.

Adesoji Iginla (35:59.278)
That's two billion.

Milton Allimadi (36:11.024)
needs. then, yeah, so they, of course Kagame is going to exact some tribute from Total and Kagame is going to exact some tribute from the Mozambique government of President Philippe Nussey as well because Rwanda Kagame would also say, without my soldiers, these rebels would march all the way to the capital and you would not be present either.

Adesoji Iginla (36:12.952)
Kagami is most

Adesoji Iginla (36:33.218)
Soldiers?

Milton Allimadi (36:40.1)
So Kagame is sitting good when it comes to dealing with both the government of Mozambique as well as Total Energies of France. Yeah, he's sitting well. He is probably consulted on the business decisions that are being made by Total, not personally, of course.

I'm sure he has appointed somebody who is his eyes and his ears. No, I mean official, probably has an official person involved through the security company, but also in Total Energy's company itself. I've just, you know, without even looking at the details, I'm sure there are some positions there where Rwanda Nationals are working.

Adesoji Iginla (37:11.254)
as a front.

Milton Allimadi (37:38.8)
right? He's reputed to be very efficient when it comes to getting involved in these organizations. There's no way would I be securing the resources for them and not having them employ some of my nationals in prominent positions. I would not allow that. So I haven't looked into that, but I'm sure that is the case. And then obviously you cannot

deploy 4 ,000 soldiers in another country without your own officers being integrated in their intelligence services, their security services, because you would need to know the political condition within Mozambique as well. Is this government stable enough? Are we going to have this government collapse?

and then we have 4 ,000 of our soldiers trapped somewhere in the country. We can't get to an airport to deploy them. Is the government going to collapse to a hostile military regime that may want to see us as enemies? So I'm sure all these considerations have been factored out. So it's fully integrated in Mozambique. And given the pressure

is facing with regard to Congo. As you know, Congo has alleged very credibly with evidence that Rwanda supports M23 because it needs instability in Eastern Congo to continue extracting resources that it has become very dependent upon for its own economy.

Adesoji Iginla (39:09.706)
M23

Milton Allimadi (39:33.04)
And then of course you are losing some other revenue now that the United Kingdom is suspending that deportation program that was also very lucrative for Rwanda that is now gone. So obviously I would not be surprised if in fact Kerkame has already contacted the CEO of Total and saying, you know what?

we need to revise the rates at which we are providing you guys security. definitely think about it. It's just common sense, you know.

Adesoji Iginla (40:03.51)
You

Adesoji Iginla (40:11.118)
There is inflation in the African market. And the reason at the beginning there when they say Islamiki surges, it's also important to understand that the area where this oil, with this gas was found, the population there are Muslims. And so they've had to resettle them.

Milton Allimadi (40:15.184)
Yeah. Yes. Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (40:40.534)
And I think one of the problems was the resettlement package was nothing to write home

Milton Allimadi (40:46.948)
Absolutely. And then now you see how they play the Islamic card, right? All you have to do is mention Islamic and that is supposed to see as something negative, the bogeyman, right? But you hit upon something which was much more important and critical. That is one of the most neglected parts of the country. And they actually had genuine grievances.

Adesoji Iginla (40:51.528)
Yes, yes, yes. And

Adesoji Iginla (40:59.712)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (41:10.818)
Yes.

Milton Allimadi (41:15.866)
And that is why, absolutely, as religious insurgency, that's not the case. In fact, when the insurgency started, they were only attacking government infrastructure. Only. I became very suspicious that at some point they started targeting civilians. I wonder if those attacks were being perpetrated by the same set of individuals and

Adesoji Iginla (41:17.036)
which has been masked using.

using the

Adesoji Iginla (41:31.21)
Only

Adesoji Iginla (41:36.682)
Mm -mm.

Milton Allimadi (41:46.01)
who launched the insurgency and had clear political agenda to redress their grievances and were only attacking government targets. It's not unusual, as you know, in these type of conflicts to be co -opted where you have the agent provocateurs. They deliberately target civilians so that you are then blamed with those attacks.

Adesoji Iginla (42:06.967)
Yes?

Milton Allimadi (42:15.652)
and then justifies to get more people involved in the fight against quote unquote Islamic terror. You you saw at some point they were considering bringing British forces, American forces, know, the Mozambique president was running around the world trying to get these Western forces. But of course, as you know, that is politically very difficult to sell, Western forces deployed in an African

the 21st century. mean they still do it. I mean they use proxies or they come in and they go out like they did in Libya. But to deploy, to provide permanent security such as what Rwanda is doing, that was not sellable. So the solution was to go to Kagame and he's now providing those

Adesoji Iginla (43:00.34)
Not at

Adesoji Iginla (43:07.322)
And so speaking of services, we go again, we go south, a bit north to your favorite general.

the land of Uganda. So again, it's total. They seem to be everywhere. And this story comes from Radio France International. So total energy oil projects devastating from Uganda National Park, the headline reads, according to an NGO. Production has yet to begin, but total energy controversial

Milton Allimadi (43:29.167)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (43:50.958)
African oil project is already taking a dire environmental toll on Uganda's largest national parks, a leading conservationist group said Friday. Despite opposition from environmentalists and rights -lead activists, the French energy giant is pushing ahead with its Telenga drilling project in Uganda and a 1 ,443 kilometer crude oil pipeline.

to transport its output to the Tanzanian coast. The $10 billion project involves drilling more than 400 oil wells in West, my God, 400 oil wells in Western Uganda, many of them in Murchison, Four Nature Park, a biodiversity reserve, and the country's largest national park. According to Human Rights,

According to Environmentalist, they said the project is already severely impacting wildlife and the fragile ecosystem in the park just a year after drilling began and before production guts get on the way next year. Maintaining that over 120 ,000 people have been displaced by the project in Uganda and Tanzania, Nabi Rumah said she was hoping for justice.

and in that case and lamented that many have been unable to replace all or parts of their land. In a statement to AFP, Total Energies insisted that its projects in East Africa certainly does not involve moving hundreds or thousands of people. It insisted that many with land along the pipeline will be able to use it after the works, adding that 775 households

will be rehoused in the vicinity and in better conditions," end quote. Meanwhile, AFIEG reports, which relied on satellite image analysis and interviews with locals, guides, civil society actors, and biodiversity experts, documented serious environmental issues. It found that vibrations from the drilling wells

Adesoji Iginla (46:09.614)
where ray were chasing elephants into surrounding communities where they were destroying croplands and increasing running into humans. At least five persons have been killed in such encounters last year. The report also said light mounted on the rig, which could be seen across nearly 14 kilometers, was negatively affecting natural and light sensitive wildlife like Leopards and lions.

This is indeed shocking.

Milton Allimadi (46:43.77)
Yeah, you know

And it's interesting that you say that because we do not have any environmental impact assessment of the total operations in Mozambique. I would like to know that as well. Because obviously there you have massive major construction too on the land and then a lot of it on the sea as well. So I never thought about that. So we should look into that as well. But in the Uganda one, just, the article lays

clearly. obviously you mentioned the publication which has published this. This is definitely not the Economist or the Financial Times because this is actually looking at it from the other side, those who point out the damage that unchecked capitalism can do. So that's why you would not find an article like this in the Financial Times.

or in the economist with very specific data about the consequences of what Dothan has been doing in Uganda. And I like the public relations, know, because, you know, most of people, then, you know, listeners, if you didn't know, a lot of the people in public relations for their major corporations,

are people who are once good journalists, you see. So they know how to spin words and to spin the story and to turn it upside down or downside up, right. So you're being told that 120 ,000 people have been displaced in Uganda and Tanzania according to

Adesoji Iginla (48:19.33)
Yep.

Milton Allimadi (48:44.976)
Madame Nabi Rumah, who works for the environmental impact organization. And Total does not deny it, but they actually deny it without denying it. So they say Total's work certainly does not involve moving hundreds of

Adesoji Iginla (49:09.71)
butts.

Milton Allimadi (49:11.152)
But they're not denying that our work has actually displaced them by forcing them to move on their own.

it's just amazing. You know, that's why I say it has to be read in capital letters, bold with exclamations. But it takes practice after a while. You can start reading through their lines and deceptions, know, mostly deceptions because they really don't lie. You know, it's not really a lie. He's being honest. We are not moving hundreds of thousands of people. That's a fact, right?

Adesoji Iginla (49:28.44)
Chapter...

Milton Allimadi (49:50.896)
But you're forcing them to flee, right? With elephants chasing after them.

But this project is under a lot of pressure. think a few weeks ago we discussed an activist who had been arrested and tortured, who was opposing this project, been arrested, think he protested outside the parliament buildings in Uganda, tortured so severely that he had to spend time in hospital.

Adesoji Iginla (50:16.791)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (50:26.733)
And they said,

Adesoji Iginla (50:31.468)
And they said he concorded the story of him being kidnapped.

Milton Allimadi (50:34.124)
Exactly. He sort of manufactured these wounds upon himself. But the protests have been global. There have been global protests, not only in Uganda alone, in France itself, in other European countries. And as a result of that, many of the companies who initially had committed to ensure the project have backed out. Many of the Western banks

who were after profit Looking to get their share of a piece of the cake right as King Leopold said They too have backed out these banks are backed out the major banks and that is why General Moseve has now had to run to China and There was a spin article

last year in October, where the Ugandan, I think it was the government newspaper, said China very receptive to project. And then when the government newspaper spun it that way, a few Western outlets also then picked up the story and they were misled by the government newspaper into saying that China had actually agreed to finance

because they still need, I think, billion dollars that China had agreed to finance, to offer that financial gap. And then they quoted the Ugandan minister saying, we think that by April 2024, we would have struck a deal. And obviously, they're thinking if they publicize it like that, you know, since China did not reject it outright, that would, you know, force China's

Adesoji Iginla (52:29.794)
John, back to the table,

Milton Allimadi (52:31.516)
But China is not in the business of throwing $3 billion around, particularly when China is also observing the politics on the ground in Uganda. The guy's been there 38 years. China observed the 2021 elections and could see obviously that this guy did not win, stole the election from Bobby Wine, and that the election of

26 is probably going to be even much more intense if he survives until then. And then as we speak right now, there's an ongoing protest in Uganda against corruption, against parliament that is echoing the ones that have been going on in Kenya. It's being organized by Generation Z on social media. So you can't go and arrest any of the leaders. So in fact, when the protest started yesterday,

Adesoji Iginla (53:17.058)
and yeah.

Milton Allimadi (53:29.02)
They just grabbed anybody who was showing up at the protest. Since there are no leaders, you can go after, right? So I think they arrested 20 plus something and brought them to court. So you're arresting the people that are protesting against corrupt officials, but you are not arresting the corrupt officials. And you know, in China, corruption is a big deal. In China, public officials,

Adesoji Iginla (53:49.282)
the corrupt officials.

Yep, yep.

Milton Allimadi (53:58.704)
who are convicted of corruption are executed. They're shot on the back of the head. That's how they're executed in China. So you think China is eager to attach itself with this kind of regime right now? Maybe at one point in the past, but right now I don't see China giving that money as a result of the protests.

Adesoji Iginla (54:03.15)
Mm -hmm.

Milton Allimadi (54:27.696)
and then as a result of having well prepared people like Nabyruma. And if you read the details that she is providing, it's very, I don't see how any major financier or bank would want to be involved in this

Adesoji Iginla (54:40.675)
detail.

Adesoji Iginla (54:49.656)
Especially the fact that she touched on some key aspects that the Innos would touch the heartstrings of the European readers. know, the mere fact that the eco -diversity is being impacted, the people, the environment, and then, you know, it's like animals. So it's like, you could see she

Milton Allimadi (55:03.632)
Yes, absolutely.

Yes, absolutely.

Milton Allimadi (55:12.634)
Yes. Yes.

absolutely. Think about it. Vibrations. Vibrations causing elephants to flee. And the light flares, causing leopards, you know.

Adesoji Iginla (55:19.5)
She, yeah, vibrations. Exactly. And lions at night not to have, come on, you know.

Milton Allimadi (55:32.732)
No, no, European activists are not gonna have that man. What's her name? Greta? Greta Thunberg is not gonna have that.

Adesoji Iginla (55:40.142)
Exactly, Greta Thunberg, you know. Of course not. she, mean, like you said, sometimes depending on what you're training in it.

Milton Allimadi (55:51.408)
You see, part of the problem is that the dictator works his mind is still in a different era. The days of just a outright military, brutish dictator monopolizing the armed forces and the police forces and thinking that's enough, the world has changed dramatically.

Adesoji Iginla (56:16.674)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, a lot, a lot, a lot.

Milton Allimadi (56:18.82)
Look, William Ruto is the commander in chief of the Kenyan armed forces, correct?

Adesoji Iginla (56:25.836)
mm -hmm yeah correct that's the

Milton Allimadi (56:28.444)
the youth forced him to eat crow to back off his tax hike, tax hike program, correct? Legislation. And now he's trying to think about how can I fill in the $2 .7 billion budget deficit. It's a very serious issue. Even though he monopolizes the...

Adesoji Iginla (56:40.223)
Yeah, correct, yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (56:47.81)
Hole.

Milton Allimadi (56:57.436)
ability to assort terror, which he did initially, right? Leading to so many deaths, right? So for General Veservian to think he can somehow get away with it in Uganda.

Adesoji Iginla (57:02.87)
Yep.

Milton Allimadi (57:13.724)
You know, he has certainly appetite much more so than Ruto, you know, for killing civilians, and he's unleashed that in the past. But we operate in a different time. When our 81 year old United States president would be candidate has to bow out. And you, in fact, are 100 % dependent on the United States. You see?

Adesoji Iginla (57:27.424)
and times have changed, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (57:43.1)
So even though he talks revolutionary, he's actually a ward of the United States. Many people are not aware, Uganda receives $1 billion every year in direct subsidy from the United States. This is not the World Bank or the IMF. This is from official United States aid to the Ugandan government. You see?

Adesoji Iginla (58:04.034)
You

Milton Allimadi (58:12.25)
So the United States can switch it off like that for him. And that is a problem of being so dependent on outside donors. They call them development partners. They're not development partners. know? have benefactors. You can't call them development partners. Their development does not depend

Adesoji Iginla (58:15.448)
Switch off the tab.

Adesoji Iginla (58:31.245)
Another buzzword, another buzzword.

Adesoji Iginla (58:41.814)
on you.

Milton Allimadi (58:42.178)
on your development. In fact, that development depends on exploiting you. Right. So he's in our he's in our bind. I personally don't believe this project will succeed. It may take on another form after I can imagine maybe let's say we have Bobby Wine is sworn in as president either before.

or after the next election. And there's still so much pressure for jobs and unemployment. Is he in a position to scrape the program totally? There could be so much pressure on him that even he himself can't just scrape it And say, let's do this and that and that and downsize it and make it address all these other issues, right? But even

Adesoji Iginla (59:32.608)
environmental issues.

Milton Allimadi (59:40.344)
even with the exuberance, euphoria that he may enjoy and publicity and support from the masses. In Uganda, the same Bobby Wine government would still have to contend with the protest that is from outside Uganda by the activists that are outside. And those could still make it impossible to get the financing.

for this project. And that is why they should actually be looking into clean energy.

Adesoji Iginla (01:00:17.39)
energy.

So you mentioned him, so we might as well go there. The final story goes to Kenya. in fact, you've touched on the aspect of the article itself, which is, so this one comes finally from the Financial Times. And it says, populist president has misread the popular mood. With domestic policy,

politics, marring his polished international image, William Ruto offers lessons to other leaders. In May, William Ruto, Kenya's president, was being fettered by the White House at a glittering gala dinner hosted by Joe Biden on the first state visit by an African leader to the US in 16 years. By July, Washington's favorite dinner guest was facing a popular revolt at home. He fired his cabinet.

and jettison tax raising

Milton Allimadi (01:01:20.346)
No, but they're disingenuous. They should have said both of them were facing rebellion.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:30.805)
Okay, hold

Milton Allimadi (01:01:31.61)
And as a result, Biden is actually out now. So both of them who were at that, know, fetting for different reasons, of course, felt domestic rebellion. But please go ahead.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:41.464)
Yeah. So.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:50.319)
So he filed his cabinet and jettisoned tax raising legislation after nationwide protests culminated in the storming of parliament. Ruto is not the first leader whose Polish international image falls to reflect his sinking domestic reputation. I think you're referring to Biden here, but he's also a stark example of the difficulty of reconciling global obligations.

And Ruto swept to power in 2022 on a populist swell after appealing to the nation's hustlers, those scrambling a living through their wits and hard work in a nation of 56 million with only 3 million formal jobs to go around reaching out to the masses in the informal economy. The street hawkers, shoe shiners, day laborers, subsistence farmers, market women, Uber drivers, and so on was electoral dynamite.

Ruto ran without the endorsement of his incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta, but he used his mass appeal to open the doors of his state house and in many ways his electoral revolution was commendable. But he's no saint to be sure. He made a fortune alongside politics and survived an indictment by the International Criminal Justice for alleged orchestration of political violence, but his appeal to an unprecedented, underclass, transcended, ethnic rivalries that has been tirelessly exploited by Kenya's political class.

And so now we know what the problem is. So it's an issue of the fact that he wants to balance the books, which is a tough ask. And in so doing, he's decided, you know what, I am going to hit the people who will suffer the most, the underclass. And the article says of 56 million people, only 3 million people have formal jobs. So basically, the rest of people are surviving hand to

Now how you will credibly go to them and ask that you raise 2. something billion is beyond me. What do you say

Milton Allimadi (01:03:59.836)
Okay, so those are obvious considerations,

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:06.279)
Correct, correct, correct.

Milton Allimadi (01:04:08.332)
What is much more, this article is fraught with danger for Ruto. If you read it in capital letters, bold exclamation mark.

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:21.952)
Letters.

Milton Allimadi (01:04:27.548)
99 % of what they're writing about is very obvious.

Obviously.

Kenya is heavily indebted. think that, I don't know what component is domestic or foreign, but the total debt I think is almost like $60 billion, right?

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:41.49)
No doubt.

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:49.776)
Yeah, in excess of actually.

Milton Allimadi (01:04:52.282)
Right. So now think.

servicing the debt alone is eating up, I think they say 30 % of revenue, I think, of what they collect.

Adesoji Iginla (01:05:03.758)
30 % of your GDP.

Milton Allimadi (01:05:14.886)
So they're essentially saying that since you can't raise the money from the masses.

We don't see how you're going to survive, really. That's what they're saying. Because the money has to come from someone, right? You can't lay off enough people to make up $2 .7 billion. You

Adesoji Iginla (01:05:24.332)
Yes, on the line. Yes, in between the lines.

because

Adesoji Iginla (01:05:35.192)
to make up that shortfall.

Milton Allimadi (01:05:42.876)
And where I say that it's fraught with danger

Why are they mentioning the ICC

for the first time recently.

Adesoji Iginla (01:05:57.72)
Wow.

Milton Allimadi (01:05:59.484)
He should be very scared of that. It could mean a couple of things. It could mean number

Adesoji Iginla (01:06:01.912)
where.

Milton Allimadi (01:06:09.808)
You have to find a way to pay the

Milton Allimadi (01:06:16.08)
You just have to.

because not many people know about the ICC case for which Ruto and Uru Kenyatta went to The Hague several times to appear at the hearings, the trial, know, there was a trial. Many people think they were acquitted. They were

Adesoji Iginla (01:06:27.138)
who look at it.

Milton Allimadi (01:06:41.412)
Ruto was not acquitted.

The case was suspended.

Adesoji Iginla (01:06:46.294)
and

Milton Allimadi (01:06:48.868)
and a suspended case can be resumed at any point. You see?

Adesoji Iginla (01:06:57.848)
says a reminder.

Milton Allimadi (01:06:57.968)
So are they saying that if you don't find a way to make sure that these loans are paid?

Adesoji Iginla (01:07:03.992)
We couldn't. Things can happen.

Milton Allimadi (01:07:06.15)
find a way to revive these cases,

That's my only reading there. But then on the other

Milton Allimadi (01:07:20.486)
You're giving Ruto tough choices now because he's a smart guy too. And he reads this thing and he knows, you know, they don't just write an article. And then the editor says, could you put in the ICC in a paragraph over there? It doesn't work like that, right? It's discussed. They know why they're putting it there. You know, there's a reason why they're putting it there. So to me, that was the

Adesoji Iginla (01:07:40.302)
As the top.

Adesoji Iginla (01:07:46.979)
That's the top on the shoulder.

Milton Allimadi (01:07:51.394)
important reference in this entire article. So as they say, watch the space going forward, right? But it's definitely not good for him that they're referencing the ICC indictment. Yeah. Ruto is a very tight spot. He may, I think he may survive if

Adesoji Iginla (01:08:12.622)
There's still some unfinished business there.

Milton Allimadi (01:08:20.976)
has a government of national unity and perhaps is trying to pave the way by firing his entire cabinet, which he already has done.

Adesoji Iginla (01:08:33.112)
but he's rehired most of

Milton Allimadi (01:08:35.664)
That's a problem because you need to find a way to work with a person like Odinga, even

Something is going on though, but because of Dingo

Rila, the last statement that I read last week, he was saying, okay, Ruto must go, but then what? We can't just have a vacuum. you know, we have to be careful when we keep saying Ruto must go, Ruto must go. So obviously he's not taking advantage of the crisis because he knows

Adesoji Iginla (01:09:03.426)
Hmm. True.

Milton Allimadi (01:09:23.152)
things could actually get worse, you see? So it means he's either willing to play a role, but why would Rayla play a role? The only, if I'm, because I like putting myself in people's shoes to see how it would act, right? If I'm in Rayla's shoes, I'll say, okay, you've been president for two years now,

Adesoji Iginla (01:09:42.83)
Okay.

Milton Allimadi (01:09:53.946)
Let's find a way for you to, you

to survive another year or so. And then, you know, let's find a way for me to become president. But it should not take, you know, the whole five years.

Adesoji Iginla (01:10:14.484)
you know the West is not going to be open to that concept of having

Milton Allimadi (01:10:18.854)
Yeah, but Ruto is in a weak position right now.

Adesoji Iginla (01:10:23.403)
Yeah but still, the West will not be open to the idea of an Odinga becoming... nah.

Milton Allimadi (01:10:28.718)
of an Ordega presidency. But the power is now on the streets in Kenya. And if the people on the streets see that Raila is much more tolerable than Ruto,

The rest will also have to swallow some bitter pills.

Adesoji Iginla (01:10:54.188)
Yeah, but then the thing is if he comes on,

Milton Allimadi (01:10:58.852)
If it comes on, will just be because he can say that in my lifetime, I was president of Kenya too. He's not going to be in a position to do anything radical.

Adesoji Iginla (01:11:05.813)
Yeah, but

Yeah, but then even if he gets in government, he won't be able to do anything radical because one, is no, there is no, okay, okay. okay.

Milton Allimadi (01:11:13.028)
No, but that's what I just said. That's exactly what I just said. He would only want to get there in order to say that in my lifetime, I was also president of Kenya. Absolutely not. Yeah, that one, even the West would say anything radical, even the West would say to hell with the Kenyan youth.

Adesoji Iginla (01:11:23.636)
Okay, okay. Beyond that, there is no other hope.

Milton Allimadi (01:11:43.068)
They would rather have Ruto lock them up.

Adesoji Iginla (01:11:46.99)
Anyway, thank you very much for this week episode. We've come to the end. But before you leave, the seismic event that happened in the United States, do you have just two minutes to give us your initial take? And then maybe next week we'll be able to do,

Milton Allimadi (01:12:06.744)
Absolutely. I think obviously the Democrats, the prospects.

Adesoji Iginla (01:12:12.648)
We're talking about the possible nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris.

Milton Allimadi (01:12:20.112)
No, but it is a continuation of what had happened. The Democrats were in the doldrums after Biden's performance at a debate where it became clear that his age had long ago caught up with him. Trump took leads in many of the critical states that a US president must win. So the Democrats were in the pits.

Milton Allimadi (01:12:52.336)
and then Trump survives an assassination.

And you know the way he would spin it. I'm untouchable. Right? Almost like a rapper. You can't touch

Adesoji Iginla (01:13:05.981)
The fight was the t -shirt.

Milton Allimadi (01:13:08.196)
And that energized his base even much so. He started widening his lead over Biden in the critical states.

Adesoji Iginla (01:13:12.098)
The t -shirts went up.

Milton Allimadi (01:13:20.124)
pressure, drumpy, Biden, step down, Biden, step down. Biden is no, no, no. And then Biden steps down and endorses his vice president, a woman of African and Indian ancestry in this country, a black woman,

Adesoji Iginla (01:13:31.886)
Thank

Adesoji Iginla (01:13:38.742)
Yeah, decent. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (01:13:44.43)
The nation of immigrants.

Milton Allimadi (01:13:47.26)
And suddenly, the euphoric expression of the Democratic Party leadership and Democrats in general, the voters, record fundraising within a few days, $100 million raised to support the presidential candidacy of Commander Harris.

So really it's enough to make you dizzy what has transpired in the United States in the last few weeks. And now the latest polling shows that in head -to -head polling, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are dead even now. So it's revived hope in the democratic establishment. It's going to be a very interesting campaign period.

Adesoji Iginla (01:14:21.552)
You

Adesoji Iginla (01:14:25.354)
If

Milton Allimadi (01:14:46.849)
election in November.

Adesoji Iginla (01:14:50.574)
And I hope in the course of programming, maybe up and running to the election, we'll do like a five minute segment of what the latest is just because yeah, because you know, was it not Thomas Ankara who said women are the mothers of our revolution? You're about to have one in the United States. So and

Milton Allimadi (01:15:02.)
yes, I think that would be a good idea. I support that. I support that, totally.

Adesoji Iginla (01:15:18.21)
who said the revolution would not be televised. This one is going to be televised. So thank you, Comrade Milton, for coming through. until next week, is good night from me too. Good night.

Milton Allimadi (01:15:22.148)
Yes, without a doubt,

Milton Allimadi (01:15:28.494)
I'll do the continua. See you next week.