Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has declared land and mineral wealth the only durable foundation for Kenya’s journey to a First World economy, warning that service sectors like tourism are too vulnerable to disruption to anchor long-term transformation.
Speaking during discussions on a new national vision report charting the country’s path toward a First World economy, the Deputy President said no nation could achieve sustainable development without a strong primary sector.
“The only permanent underwriter of long-term national transformation into the First World will still remain the primary sector, our land,” he said.
Kindiki acknowledged that tourism and other service industries mattered, but argued they could be easily derailed by the kind of shocks the country had witnessed in recent times. The primary sector, anchored in land and mineral wealth, offered the most durable route, he said.
He outlined the report’s structure as resting first on the primary sector, followed by the productive sector led by manufacturing, then services including transport and logistics, and finally enablers such as education, innovation, science and technology, research and the country’s value system.
Beyond the economic pillars, the Deputy President pointed to confidence as a missing link in Africa’s development story, saying the continent possessed the ingredients for success, a young population, fertile land and abundant minerals, but often lacked belief in its own abilities.
Kindiki also called for Kenya’s long-term vision to be anchored in law, arguing that legal backing would shield the national agenda from disruption each time a new administration took office.
“I have often asked myself how we can insulate Kenya’s vision from one administration to the next,” he said. “This report has given us a possible answer: we must begin anchoring Kenya’s long-term vision in law.”
He clarified that entrenching the vision would not make it rigid, noting it could still be amended through a deliberate process by Parliament while ensuring continuity across <a href="https://absafricatv.com/nigeria-to-track-poverty-incomes-as-government-seeks-proof-reforms-are-working/” title=”Nigeria to track poverty, incomes as government seeks proof reforms are working”>governments.
The Deputy President further urged the team behind the report, led by Professor Nyong’o, to bring more women and young people into the conversation, and called for the inclusion of all political parties, including the opposition, saying the agenda should be depoliticised and no side left behind.
“Political parties are institutions of our democracy, and they should participate from the beginning,” he said.
