Raila's dream lives on in Ruto's Vision 2060

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga had a dream of leading Kenyans to Canaan, a promised land flowing with milk and honey. He never reached the presidency, failing in five attempts to pull his fellow countrymen out of the yoke of poverty. But his ambition appears to have outlived him.

When President William Ruto launched the "Beyond Vision 2030" initiative last month, a proposed 30-year development blueprint to transform Kenya into a first-world nation by 2060, the hand of the late opposition leader was unmistakably present. The team that crafted the strategic guidelines was, by Raila's own admission before his death in October 2025, assembled by him.

"The team which crafted it was formed by the late Raila Amolo Odinga," Raila's elder brother and ODM leader Oburu Odinga said at a public rally in Kendu Bay on August 2. "And therefore, we are 100 per cent supporting it, because it is our idea, and it is our contribution to the coalition".

Indeed, the team that formulated the strategic guidelines for Kenya's post-2030 development trajectory reads like a who's who of Odinga's intellectual inner circle.

Leading the effort was Prof Hiroyuki Hino, a Japanese economist who served as Odinga's economic adviser during his tenure as Prime Minister between 2008 and 2013.

Hino, a former IMF Mission Chief for Kenya and Senior Advisor in the Fund's African Department, also served as Senior Advisor to then-Deputy President Ruto. He currently conducts research at Duke University.

Kisumu Governor Anyang' Nyong'o brought institutional memory.  As Planning and National Development minister under President Mwai Kibaki, Prof  Nyong'o spearheaded the crafting of Vision 2030, Kenya's current development blueprint launched in 2008.

He has described Vision 2060 as fundamentally different: whereas Vision 2030 was largely a development roadmap, the new vision is being conceived as a broader "national charter" that defines the country's long-term aspirations.

Prof Michael Chege, a distinguished scholar in African studies and research affiliate of the University of Nairobi's Institute for Development Studies, has long been linked to Odinga's policy and economic circles.

He was among the Odinga-aligned academics Ruto brought on board in January this year to contribute expertise to national economic planning.

Prof Karuti Kanyinga, a research professor of development studies and director of the Institute for Development Studies at the University of Nairobi, has extensively analysed Odinga's significant, long-standing role in Kenyan politics, governance and national development.

Following Raila's death, Kanyinga was among scholars who wrote on several outlets that despite failing to secure the presidency, Odinga "cemented his place in history as a figure who profoundly shaped the country's politics as much as any president."

Prof Peter Wanyande, a political scientist at the University of Nairobi, was a key policy adviser and member of Odinga's 2022 Azimio presidential campaign board, helping formulate his policy framework and economic agenda.

Another former key Odinga adviser now working at State House is Dr David Ndii, who chairs the President's Council of Economic Advisors.

Ruto has been championing what he calls the "Singapore dream", a vision he explains of transforming Kenya into a “prosperous, high-income, industrialised and globally competitive nation within one generation.”

He believes Kenya can achieve this by 2060 "provided Kenyans remain united in purpose, disciplined in execution and unwavering in our commitment to long-term national transformation."

The team of experts he assembled, he said, would "continue to engage and shape a coherent long-term development vision for Kenya".

Receiving the team's report on July 21, Ruto publicly acknowledged their contribution. "Once again, I thank Professor Hiroyuki Hino, Professor Anyang' Nyong'o, Prof. Michael Chege, Prof. Karuti Kanyinga, Professor Peter Wanyande, their distinguished colleagues, and all those who contributed to this important work," he said.

The report, titled "Developing a New Vision for Kenya: Towards a First World Nation," outlines a roadmap for transforming Kenya into a first-world economy after Vision 2030 expires. The President described it as "a thoughtful and valuable contribution to an important national conversation".

By embracing the new blueprint, Ruto appears keen on keeping Odinga's legacy alive.

Critics, led by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, have dismissed the "Singapore dream" as a vote-hunting chant. "Kenyans do not want visions, they want action. We do not want dreams," Gachagua said recently.

But Odinga's allies have rallied behind the initiative. "That Vision 2060 was an idea of our late Raila Amolo Odinga," Oburu Odinga said. "And therefore, we are 100 per cent supporting it, because it is our idea, and it is our contribution to the coalition".

Some analysts say that by adopting a vision crafted by Odinga's thinkers, the very intellectuals who for years argued that "Kenya's development problem is not lack of resources but weak planning and execution," he is signalling continuity with the opposition leader's “unfinished business.”

Raila Odinga may never have lived to implement his lofty ideas as president, but his influence, it seems, is outlasting long after he passed on, woven into the very blueprint of the nation he dreamed of leading.