A young Kenyan law graduate used the national conversation on Kenya’s future to deliver a simple message: the country’s next development plan must give young people a bigger role.
Mogesi Maroa, a graduate of Mount Kenya University, told delegates at the launch of the National Conversation: Kenya Beyond 2030 at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi that the country needed to shift its focus from political debate to development that improves people’s lives.
Youth at the heart of Kenya’s next development chapter
The generation before us fought with their lives so that we could have the democracy we are enjoying today,” Ms Maroa said. “Democracy, we have discussed all my life up to where I am. Please, let us discuss development.”
Her remarks came as Kenya began a broader discussion on what should follow Vision 2030, the national development blueprint launched in 2008. The plan was designed to turn Kenya into a newly industrializing, middle-income country with a higher quality of life for its citizens.
But as the deadline approaches, the country is confronting the question of what should come next and how to build on the gains, as well as address the gaps, of the past two decades.
For Ms Maroa, young people should not be treated simply as recipients of government programs. They should have a seat at the table as entrepreneurs, innovators, professionals and decision-makers.
Drawing from her upbringing in Kuria, Migori County, she said investment in infrastructure, education and digital connectivity had shown her how better opportunities could change communities.
She called for greater investment in education, technology, skills training, jobs and entrepreneurship. Her argument was that young Kenyans need more than promises of opportunity. They need the tools and space to create it.
Beyond Vision 2030, Kenya weighs its next long-term priorities
That message fits into a wider debate over Kenya’s long-term development. The official Vision 2030 framework was built around successive five-year medium-term plans, with the current fourth plan covering 2023 to 2027.
President William Ruto, who addressed the gathering, said Kenya needed a national vision that could survive changes in government and electoral cycles.
He stressed the importance of placing citizens at the center of development and identified young people, farmers, entrepreneurs and civil society as important participants in the country’s economic future.
The President also pointed to inequality, corruption and weak accountability as challenges that would have to be confronted in shaping the next phase of development.
AI and skills emerge as key pillars of Kenya’s future
Technology featured prominently in the discussions. Digital government systems and measures aimed at reducing fraud were presented as ways of improving public accountability.
Prof. Bitange Ndemo, an ICT expert, also warned that Kenya must prepare for an economy increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence. He argued that the country would need stronger digital infrastructure, reliable energy and better skills if it is to take advantage of the technology.
For young Kenyans, however, the larger question remains whether the next development blueprint can translate ambitious plans into jobs, businesses and opportunities.
That is where Ms Maroa’s intervention struck a particular chord.
Her appeal was not simply for young people to be included in Kenya’s next national plan. It was for them to help shape it.
As the country looks beyond Vision 2030, the debate is increasingly moving towards what kind of Kenya the next generation will inherit and whether that generation will have a meaningful role in deciding what comes next.
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