Vision 2060 framework: Why expert wants talks delayed

President William Ruto speaking on Wednesday, August 12 during the national conversation on Beyond 2030. [PCS]

As Kenya begins looking beyond Vision 2030, economist Odhiambo Ramogi has called for the proposed Vision 2060 talks to be delayed until after the 2027 General Election.

Speaking on Thursday, August 13, Ramogi said the country needs a bipartisan conversation on its long-term development agenda, which, if held now, risks becoming a political tool ahead of the elections.

According to the economist, the Vision 2060 conversation is a national process that is supposed to be all-inclusive, bipartisan, sober and unbiased.

However, he says holding the conversation as the country approaches the 2027 elections would give it a political orientation, making it difficult to reach consensus on the proposals.

“At this time, we cannot have a bipartisan conversation and start really breaking down the document, honestly. Those in government, who are broad-based, will be supporting almost everything in that document, because they do not want to be seen as standing against the President's proposal to the country,” said the economist.

“Those in the opposition will not want to be identified with any proposal in that document, because they would be seen as giving President Ruto political capital.”

His remarks come as President William Ruto continues to champion the Vision 2060 agenda.

According to the President, the proposed Beyond Vision 2030 framework is necessary to ensure that Kenya does not enter the next decade without a clear development plan.

Ruto has also argued that Kenya has changed significantly since Vision 2030 was developed and that the blueprint no longer fully reflects the country Kenya is preparing for, hence the need for a new long-term framework.

Unlike Vision 2030, which was developed before the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution, Ruto says Vision 2060 will involve public participation, with the government facilitating the process rather than shaping or controlling it, sentiments that Ramogi is against.

According to the economist, the government has fallen short in delivering on some of its promises; therefore, it should first demonstrate meaningful progress on its existing promises before championing new ones.

“You've not even fulfilled the things in the last four years, the things you said you will do, and you are at 11 per cent. And you want to talk about the things the next administration will do,” he said.

Ramogi suggests that the Vision 2060 conversation should first be driven by institutions such as the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA), the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and universities, which can develop the research, data and economic models needed to inform the country's long-term planning.

“I would be happy if KNBS provided the data. I would be happy if, for example, there is an economics department in the Republic of Kenya charged with the duty of just coming up with economic models. How would this look if we implemented it? Or rather, how would this look? Give us a working model that would take us for the next 30 years in our planning."

He adds that the institutions could develop the framework ahead of the national conversation, allowing Kenyans to interrogate concrete proposals rather than a politically driven vision.

According to him, to ensure effectiveness, the institutional groundwork could be completed before the national conversation, with the process taking place after the 2027 elections, when political temperatures have cooled.

“If those documents were availed around January of 2028, after the political temperatures have cooled down, whether this administration is re-elected or not, then you find that conversation is a very rich conversation,” Ramogi said.