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President William Ruto's Kenya's journey to Vision 2060 continues to face criticism.[File, Standard]
President William Ruto’s recent address to the nation was a classic study in executive indifference. It was an exercise given less for the purpose of communicating a clear vision than for the sheer necessity of saying something.
As citizens gathered to listen to the president in a country burdened by myriad crises, the speech stood out as an antithesis to their expectations. A country grappling with escalating insecurity, human rights abuses, a punishing cost of living, a crumbling education system, and a paralysed health sector where nurses are once again on strike, cannot find solace in abstract promises and wishful projections. Abstract economic theories are not a panacea to daily survival.
Throughout the president’s address, references were made to global success stories like Singapore, which has become the standard playbook for developing nations seeking a blueprint for rapid transformation. But invoking Singapore without replicating its foundations is a hollow rhetorical gimmick that no longer excites anyone. We must ask: What did Lee Kuan Yew and his contemporaries do right that our leadership refuses to emulate?
