By Joshua Cheloti

President Dr William Ruto congratulated four Kenyan university students who bagged a global award on Tuesday, September 20, 2022.

The four St Paul’s University students Lennox Omondi, Keylie Muthoni, Dullah Shiltone and Brian Ndung’u were named the 2022 winners of the Hult Prize.

They won the prize courtesy of their innovation – Eco-bana which makes biodegradable sanitary pads from banana fibre.

With the historic win, the four students were awarded a million US dollars, which is an equivalent of over Ksh120 million.

Sharing his congratulatory message to the students on his verified Facebook page, the President said the student’s win with their innovation was a ‘hustler’s spirit’ that his government is keen to support.

The Head of State pegged his 2022 presidential election on a promise of implementing a bottom-up economic model that focuses on supporting citizens at the bottom of the wealth pyramid in society.

“Congratulations to Eco-Bana, a Kenyan social venture started by four university students, that has just won the prestigious Hult Prize and a cash award of 1 million dollars,” Ruto said in part of his post shared on September 21, 2022.

“The prize is awarded to entrepreneurs who strive to tackle pressing global issues through innovation. The firm makes hygienic sanitary pads from banana fibres. This is the Hustler Spirit that we are keen to support,” he added.

The Hult Prize is an annual, year-long competition that crowd-sources ideas from university-level students after challenging them to solve a pressing social issue around topics such as food security, water access, energy, and education.

The awards ceremony for the 2022 event was held during the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting in the United States of America.

The Kenyan students emerged at the top out of the six finalists.

During the event, former US President Bill Clinton made the keynote address.