"Do you know how much money from your allocated constitutional road budget was spent last year and how? Did you know that up to the recently read budget, "Maziwa Ya Nyayo" was still in the national budget? If I told you that your MP spends Sh.100,000 on his/her mobile phone a month, would you know if I was telling the truth or not?... our government is MTEJA!!"

Thus reads the accompanying introductions to one of this year's most socio-politico conscious releases, Mteja. The jam demands attention for many reasons, not least because of the heavyweights involved - Gospel ambassadors Kanjii, Juliani and Lyn on one hand and secular bigwigs Wahu, Wenyeji and Kalamshaka's Roba on the other - but also because of the message it carries.

Done in collaboration with the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Mteja decries the lack of transparency within government and private enterprises on issues like corruption, expenditure and personal rights. The artists insist that freedom of information is a right, and that every young person has a right to know how tax money is being spent, policy being developed and private businesses are making their billions.

More than that, the artists seek to use this as a platform to push for more youth involvement in public life and decision making in public interest, and enforce accountability in both the government and private sector. 

The jam is produced at Kijiji Records by Aaron "Krucial" Rimbui and Kanjii Mbugua, and the accompanying video shot by Nameless for Alternative Concepts. Download and listen to the single by CLICKING HERE, and play your part in pushing for the right to information.

Watch the video RIGHT HERE.

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