Kenyan leaders want Singapore's success but without its discipline

President William Ruto with former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at State House, Nairobi. [PSC]

Kenya’s political elite has developed a growing obsession with the “Singapore model,” frequently invoking the Southeast Asian city-state as the ideal pathway to national prosperity. 

The appeal is obvious: Singapore rose from a fragile post-colonial outpost to a global economic powerhouse within a generation. But this comparison while politically convenient, ignores the crucial historical, structural, and moral foundations that fuelled Singapore’s success. More importantly, it blinds Kenyans to the real obstacle to national progress: Our entrenched culture of political corruption.