Next leader should revisit Vision 2030

When the Kenya Vision 2030 development blueprint was launched on June 10, 2008, it reflected the people's desire for a better society. It aimed to transform the country into "a globally competitive and successful country with a high quality of life by 2030."

Developed through a participatory and all-inclusive process, both the government and the public praised the Vision as transformative. Successive five-year medium-term implementation plans meant that it was to transcend all future governments until it was achieved in 2030.

The Vision had three pillars supported by crucial enablers. First, the economic pillar envisaged an average GDP growth rate of 10 percent per annum and maintain it through to 2030.

The second was the social pillar to foster justice, coherence, and equal social development in a safe and secure environment.

And the political pillar sought to create a democratic system that is issue-based, people-centred, results-oriented, and accountable.

These pillars were anchored on the following enablers: macroeconomic stability; infrastructure development; science, technology, and innovation (STI); land Reforms; human resources development; security reforms; and public sector reforms.

And every subsequent policy developed was supposed to be anchored into Vision 2030.

But in an attempt to create President Uhuru Kenyatta's legacy, Vision 2030 lost its steam. In its place, the Big Four Agenda emerged. Its objectives adopted affordable housing, universal healthcare, manufacturing, and food security before his term ends in 2022.

Although the Uhuru administration considered the Big Four Agenda an extension of Vision 2030, the perception was essentially contradictory.

I must say that the Vision indeed achieved many things for the country. More specifically, the country achieved most of the desires under the political pillar and key among them was the 2010 Constitution.

Implementing the governance structures proposed in the Constitution led to the creation of the 47 counties. As a result, Kenyans are now enjoying the fruits of devolved governance.

The promise of change and development brings hope. But unfortunately, politicians failed to keep the promise of creating an issue-based, people-centred, results-oriented, and accountable system.

The government now admits that it has been a lost cause. Although a Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) report: Unpacking of the 2022 Budget Policy Statement, published in December 2021, says that the government was to increase the share of the manufacturing sector to GDP to 15 per cent, the trend has been on the decline from 9.2 percent in 2018 to an estimated 7.6 percent as of 2020.

The target of shifting from rainfed agriculture to achieve food security has not been met. The flagship project, Galana Kulalu, only expanded farm acreage from 52,000 to 100,000. As a result, it will not be possible to achieve the target of 700,000 acres under irrigation.

The report says the country is "facing one of the worst food crises due to cumulative failed rainy seasons and is far from being food secure." Therefore, the expanded irrigation programme will not realise any additional food production.

On universal health coverage by 2022, the government declared a success in a four-county pilot. However, it is yet to achieve the 100 percent promised.

On housing, although the government has not achieved the promise of providing 500,000 affordable new houses by the year 2022, the report notes that some significant progress has been made.

The Big Four Agenda may not materialise as envisaged. However, the Uhuru legacy will come from the Vision 2030 projects.

It should be a lesson for whoever receives the baton from President Kenyatta that Vision 2030 was the people's desire to move away from wasteful short-term planning for the country. The new leader should follow the 2030 script and make it a reality for every citizen.