Beyond 2030: Putting new wine in old wineskins?

President William Ruto [PSC]

President William Ruto’s planned launch of the Beyond Vision 2030 blueprint is the latest in a series of development strategies that Kenya has adopted since independence, often with missed targets thanks to shifting priorities.

The first was Sessional Paper 10 of 1965, which was prepared by Economic and Planning minister, the late Tom Mboya.

It was titled “African Socialism and its Application to Planning in Kenya,” and sought to promote traditional African values with a mixed economy while rejecting both pure Western capitalism and Soviet Union communism.

While it is hailed for fostering development in high potential agricultural and industrial regions in the country, it has been criticised for neglecting regions such as north eastern Kenya, which were then considered as low potential but whose economic value has gone up in recent years, with the government playing catch up.

When President Daniel Arap Moi succeeded Mzee Jomo Kenyatta in August 1978, while sustaining the harambee (pulling together spirit), he unveiled District Focus for Rural Development strategy, which aimed to shift decision-making from central headquarters to the local level.

It was the first time Kenya adopted a bottom-up approach intended to replace rigid top-down national directives with community-based initiatives, incorporating local self-help and resources.

However, financial allocations, major funding approvals and final project decisions often remained tightly held by the central government while heavy red tape at district treasuries and slow procurement processes frequently delayed project execution.

At the same time, committees were often dominated by government officials and elites, leaving ordinary rural citizens with little actual influence over decisions.

During the tenure of President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, which was formed after the disputed 2007 presidential election, the government unveiled Kenya Vision 2030 in 2008, which aims to create “a globally competitive and prosperous country with a high quality of life by 2030”.

The Vision was a product of a highly participatory, consultative and inclusive stakeholders’ process carried out between October 2006 and May 2007. Between July and August 2007, the contents of the Vision 2030 were again subjected to open consultations in all provinces in Kenya before the document was finalised.

However, since 2013 when Uhuru Kenyatta succeeded Kibaki, Kenya Vision 2030 has been overshadowed by competing priorities such as the Big 4 Agenda and Bottom Up Transformation Agenda, which, while almost pursuing similar outcomes have neglected much of what it sought to achieve.

With four years left to its expiry, President William Ruto has now kicked off a fresh bid to launch Beyond Vision 2030 blueprint.

However, political analysts say Kenyans will be keen to see if it will come with measurable outcomes, funding, implementation structures and accountability.