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Raila Odinga is the most consequential politician of Kenya’s second post-independence stanza, which takes nothing away from Kibaki’s economic efforts, in which he also played a part.
Political elites, especially incumbents, sit pretty in ivory towers plotting to overcome “post-election” protests after, invariably, rigged elections.
This is not to say that the President is wrong in calling for our greater national ambition.
We refer today to a biting double piece by the New York Times on, to put it mildly, the travails of Kenyans working in Saudi Arabia.
National priorities should reflect daily basic needs, not government project checklists. True national progress depends on food, rights, income, safety and participation.
After witnessing weeks of populist pronouncements from car sunroofs exhorting Kenyans to stop being “average” for us to move “from third world to first.
Today, our GDP has increased to $136 billion, moving us up to become the sixth largest economy on the continent
Events of the recent by-elections show that violence and intimidation will be fine-tuned into electoral tools of trade come 2027.
On December 9, was International Anti-Corruption Day, the 22nd anniversary of the launch of United Nations Convention Against Corruption.
There will be selective statements about where we are coming from and where we are today. You can also expect new “third to first world” exhortations about where we are headed next.
It is fair to say that the “Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda” (BETA) is still a work in progress.
To be clear, this parody is deliberate. Do Kenyans want the New Singapore or a New Kenya?
The draft 2026 Budget Policy Statement (BPS) signals an intention to remain on the path of macro-stability next year, but keeps the annual growth target at 5.3 per cent all the way to 2030.
In making 2026 “a defining year in Kenya’s history”, to quote the President’s New Year address, we begin with the 2026/27 budget process now in full flow.
By June 2027, the totality of government will have spent about Sh40 trillion in 14 financial years and a bit, including almost Sh9 trillion in “investments.”
Tough questions around development, service delivery and accountability are valid, but we should focus on how to transform our county economies.
Back-of-the-envelope calculations tell us that Vision 2030 double digit growth rates would have gotten us to upper middle-income status by 2024.
It’s worth hearing how the NADCO issues — including inclusivity, devolution, youth livelihoods, leadership and integrity, will be handled as a matter of daily business.
Let’s just say that Kenya is yet to discover an administration that is willing to constructively tackle our expenditure problem, debt treadmill notwithstanding.
Kenya needs a “formula” that uses integrated sector-level indicator-specifications for development and service delivery to permit cooperation deals between national and county governments.
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