Ruto : Why national dialogue had to happen before 2027 and why political interests shouldn't' shape the country's future

President William Ruto yesterday came to the defense of the timing of the launch of the national dialogue on the vision 2060 economic transformation plan, just one year to the 2027 general elections.

During a session characterized by the calls for a rethink of the country’s development agenda and a peel-back of the country’s gains under the vision 2030, the Head of State also warned against letting political interests shape the country’s long term future.

Ruto who was encircled by officials from the expanded Executive emphasized that the long-term vision 2060 plan was far more consequential than the forthcoming polls and it was important for the country to prioritize it. He was speaking at KICC.

“Many people may say maybe this being a year where we are going into politics, maybe this should not be an opportunity for us. Now I want to tell them Kenya is bigger than any election. For far too long we have made elections to look like it is a matter of life and death. It is not,” said the President. 

In a veiled attack against past administrations that came before him, Ruto also claimed that they had failed to achieve some of the milestones under Vision 2030 as they had made plans “not with the foresight of the future, not thinking about the next generation but simply thinking about the next election.”

He also told of political pressures by critics from within his administration who opined that it was not the right time to launch the conversation and proposed that the vision be shelved until after the decisive 2027 elections.

 “I have the privilege of being the president today and I want to speak from that experience of the pressure that you always have.  Even when you know as a leader this is the right thing to do you are told that it will affect your next election, and not to do it. Many are telling me why don't you concentrate on the next election, leave this thing, it can be done some other time. I'm telling them the next election will come and go. Kenya must think beyond the next election. Kenya must think for the next generation and I want to ask all of us here to think beyond any election cycle or any administration,” emphasized Ruto.

To anchor his argument on the need for a new vision for the country, he observed that at the formulation of vision 2030, the advent of Artificial Intelligence was not with us, the country was not yet exposed to the long term effects of climate change and that the center of global gravity in terms of growth has since moved to Africa thus the new vision would position the country at the epicenter.

“It is important that at this point in time, we give ourselves another opportunity to think about the long-term development of Kenya in the context of the world that we live in today... We want to pick the minds of everybody, the farmers, entrepreneurs, students, technocrats, everybody. Let them tell us what kind of future that we all want to think about and nobody should assume that any one of us has the monopoly of knowledge,” added the President.

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki, while highlighting some of the successes of the current administration, hit out at the opposition for what he termed as politicizing the development of the country further accusing them of constantly being skeptical and dismissive.

“We can politicize everything else. Let us not politicize the development of our country because if we do so, then we see some of the results that have created the kind of gaps that we have seen,” said Kindiki.

His sentiments were seemingly directed to former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and his allies who have vowed to overturn the current administration’s policies by scrapping the affordable housing levy, revising the taxation framework, defunding State House expenditures and replacing the Hustler Fund with a better funding model- should they clinch power.

“The biggest threat to African and developing countries, is policy disruption, where some of the things that have been put in place are disrupted when there is a change of administration. Somebody comes with their ego as opposed to the national interest, and they want to change this, change the other, instead of perfecting the foundation on which our country has been raised. We must insulate this country from policy disruption,” reiterated Kindiki.

Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o called for Kenya’s long-term development goals to remain protected from electoral cycles, saying national development should not be disrupted whenever the country goes through a change in political leadership.

Nyongó who is leading the strategic working group designing Vision 2060, said questions over why the country is having the conversation at this particular moment were legitimate, but argued that there are convincing reasons for beginning the process now.

He said the approaching end of the current planning cycle makes it necessary for the country to determine what comes after 2027 and, more importantly, establish a long-term destination beyond 2030.

“If Kenya simply develops another five-year plan without agreeing on the country’s long-term destination beyond 2030, our planning process risks becoming another cycle of programmes and projects without sufficiently clear national direction,” stated Nyongó.

Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader Oburu Odinga was convinced that the Singapore dream was attainable but the government needed to first deal with corruption by building a society that is completely intolerant of it and avoiding wastage in government.

The government is now expected to take the proposals espoused during the national dialogue and present it to Parliament in the form of a Bill for implementation.

Council of Governors Chairperson and Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi, was resolute that the county government heads would prioritize funding the new vision once implemented to ensure inclusivity and equality across the country.