- Ashford Kimani argues that Kenya’s proposed Vision 2060 should begin with an honest assessment of the successes and failures of Vision 2030.
- Kimani says the new vision must prioritise job creation, affordable public services, inclusive growth and improved household incomes rather than focusing mainly on infrastructure projects.
- He calls for stronger implementation, accountability, meaningful public participation and continuity beyond electoral cycles to ensure Vision 2060 delivers lasting prosperity.
Kenya is once again looking into the future. With Vision 2030 approaching its horizon, the country has begun a national conversation on what should come next. The proposed Vision 2060 is expected to provide a longer-term development framework, but the most important question is not how ambitious the new vision will be. It is whether Kenya will learn honestly from the successes and shortcomings of Vision 2030.
Speaking during the launch of nationwide public consultations on Vision 2060 on August 12, 2026, Kisumu Governor Prof. Anyang’ Nyong’o, one of the architects of Vision 2030 and now a key figure in the development of its successor, said Kenya had learnt valuable lessons that must inform the next blueprint.
He acknowledged that Vision 2030 had contributed to industrialisation, political stability and modern infrastructure, while cautioning that much more remains to be done if Kenya is to become a high-income, resilient economy whose wealth is broadly shared.
That admission is important. National development should not be measured merely by the number of roads constructed, buildings erected or projects launched. The ultimate test of development is whether ordinary citizens experience a meaningful improvement in their quality of life.
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Vision 2030 was launched in 2008 with an ambitious objective: to transform Kenya into a newly industrialising, middle-income country providing a high quality of life to all citizens in a clean and secure environment. It was to be implemented through successive five-year medium-term plans, supported by flagship projects across the country.
There is no doubt that Kenya has changed considerably since 2008. The country has witnessed major investments in roads, energy, telecommunications, urban infrastructure and other sectors.
Nairobi’s skyline has changed. Digital financial services have transformed how millions of Kenyans transact. Renewable energy has expanded significantly. Devolution has also changed the geography of public investment by taking resources and decision-making closer to counties.
Yet development has not been evenly experienced.
For many Kenyans, the impressive infrastructure exists alongside unemployment, high living costs, inadequate public services and persistent economic insecurity. A modern highway does not automatically translate into prosperity for a young person without a job.
A new hospital building means little to a family if it cannot afford treatment or if essential medicines are unavailable. Economic growth becomes less meaningful when the benefits are concentrated among a relatively small section of society.
This is perhaps the first major lesson for Vision 2060: development must be people-centred.
Kenya must move beyond measuring development through expenditure and physical projects. The country should ask harder questions. How many sustainable jobs have been created? How many young people have moved from dependency to economic independence? How much has household purchasing power improved? How many children from poor families can access quality education? How many farmers can make predictable incomes? How many enterprises can survive and grow without being strangled by taxes, bureaucracy and expensive credit?
The second lesson is that a good plan is only as strong as its implementation machinery.
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Nyong’o pointed to inadequate financial resources and weaknesses in coordination and supervision as factors that limited the achievement of some Vision 2030 targets. This is a critical observation because Kenya has never suffered from a shortage of development plans. The country has produced numerous strategies, policies and blueprints. The recurring problem has often been the gap between policy and implementation.
Vision 2060 therefore needs clear accountability. Every major objective should have measurable indicators, responsible institutions, realistic financing arrangements and transparent monitoring mechanisms. Kenya cannot afford another situation where impressive targets appear in government documents while implementation remains fragmented.
The third lesson is the need for continuity beyond political administrations.
Kenya’s politics is heavily influenced by five-year electoral cycles. Governments come and go, ministers change, priorities shift and projects associated with previous administrations can be abandoned or renamed. Such an approach is dangerous for long-term national development.
Nyong’o has already warned that long-term development goals should not be disrupted by electoral cycles. This message deserves serious consideration as Kenya approaches the 2027 General Election.
Vision 2060 should not become the development manifesto of one political party or one administration. It should belong to Kenya. A government elected in 2032 should be able to continue a successful programme started by its predecessor. Likewise, an administration should be free to improve a programme that is not working without destroying the entire national framework.
The fourth lesson is that public participation must be meaningful rather than ceremonial.
The ongoing national consultations provide an opportunity for Kenyans to influence the priorities of Vision 2060 and contribute to a proposed National Development Charter. But public participation should go beyond inviting citizens to meetings where predetermined decisions are presented.
A farmer in Turkana, a teacher in Kiambu, a fisherman in Kisumu, a trader in Mombasa, a technology entrepreneur in Nairobi and a young graduate in Bungoma should all see their realities reflected in the national vision.
Finally, Kenya must understand that ambition without discipline can become expensive symbolism. Vision 2060 should not be a catalogue of magnificent projects. It should be a practical social contract between the State and citizens.
Kenya has learnt enough from Vision 2030 to avoid repeating its weaknesses. The country has demonstrated that it can build infrastructure, embrace technology and pursue ambitious national goals.
The challenge now is to strengthen institutions, improve implementation, fight wastage and corruption, protect long-term plans from electoral politics and ensure that economic growth translates into broadly shared prosperity.
Vision 2060 should therefore begin not with another grand promise, but with an honest audit of where Vision 2030 succeeded, where it failed and why.
The real measure of Vision 2060 will not be whether Kenya has produced another impressive document. It will be whether, decades from now, a young Kenyan can look back and say that the country finally transformed its potential into opportunity.
Kenya does not need another vision merely to dream bigger. It needs a vision that Kenya can implement, protect and pass from one generation to the next.
By Ashford Kimani
Ashford is a teacher of English and Literature and comments on education and social affairs.
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