Chief Justice Emeritus and presidential hopeful David Maraga has put youth innovation at the heart of his economic recovery plan, promising to turn Kenyan creativity into wealth and employment if he is elected president.
In a post on his official X account on Tuesday, September 2, 2025, Maraga explained that his Rebuild the Economy Plan aims to unlock the vast potential of young people by ensuring that their ideas and innovations are not only recognised but also transformed into bankable assets.
“I agree on the untapped opportunities for young people. My rebuild the economy plan outlines how to convert ideas and creativity into bankable assets and earnings. Count on my administration to make it easy to protect, value, trade, finance, and enforce Intellectual Property created in Kenya,” Maraga said.
Maraga noted that Kenya’s youth have time and again demonstrated their genius across the board, from technology and digital content creation to the arts, agriculture, and innovation hubs. He warned, however, that the country continues to lose out due to a lack of robust intellectual property protection and well-structured support systems.
“Young Kenyans have proved that they are brilliant, but without proper legal protection and access to finance, their innovations end up wasted or stolen. This must change,” Maraga stressed.
His plan aims at strengthening intellectual property (IP) laws, lowering the cost of patenting and copyright, and creating mechanisms for facilitating young innovators’ access to markets and finance for innovations.
Maraga also linked his proposal to to general economic development, adding that incentivizing creativity is not only about empowering the youth – it is about building a globally competitive Kenyan economy. He argued that with the right policies, the country could export technology, art, music, and other creative works while generating millions of local jobs.
“This is not charity to the youth. It is an economic strategy. If we protect, finance, and trade intellectual property, we create jobs, wealth, and respect for Kenya on the global stage,” he explained.
