Kenya Vision: 2040
We finally have a president from a minority tribe. We have no pre nor post-election incidences. Half of Kenya’s problems are half solved. There is an aura of hope in the country. National cohesion is being felt in most parts of the country. The 2010 constitution was reviewed 8 years ago so as to fit the current situation in Kenya, so far so good.
The ‘house of cards’ is less greedy and are responsible leaders implementing projects that are helping the people to get jobs and trust in government. The county governments are being run professionally and they are creating jobs for the locals. You can now be born in and go to school in Karatina; get work in Nyeri (County Headquarters) immediately after graduation. There is lots of civil works within the county headquarters and towns (municipals) — big projects such as hospitals, roads and bridges have being built; infrastructure such as sewage pipes, drainage, lighting and walking pavements are being set up according to a national masterplan that was worked on a few years back. The modern infrastructure paves the way for businessmen (former Nairobians) and big retails shops to invest within the counties and the different municipals leading to an economic buzz in almost all counties in Kenya.
Konza City is beaming with activity. Global brands have set-up their East Africa offices, others their sub-saharan offices. The city is way better than Nairobi in terms of planning. The city plan was followed accordingly and it doesn’t have to go through what Nairobi went through since the people learnt their lessons. Some government services were transferred to the city, this has led to some decongestion in Nairobi. The city has a metro-tram that connects the north of the city (next to Mombasa highway) and south of the city where it is boarded by SGR line. Transport within the city is so efficient, like no other city in Africa. In fact it has won several awards for its efficiency and its a major tourist destination — similar to Nairobi, it has a national park just next to it.
2–6–6–3 is now a reality. You don’t have to solve complex chemical formulas to become a banker. You don’t have to try to solve ‘unsolvable’ calculus equations to become a musician. We are almost at per with the Scandinavian countries in terms of quality of education. Some Kenyan individuals are professors in some of the biggest universities in the world. Nairobi University including other colleges are centers of major research work — they are at per with IBM research and other major corporations in terms of innovative solutions being researched on. Kenya is not only known for distance running and rugby but also football, basketball and swimming. My childrens’ classmates are playing regularly in the premier league; a Kisumu Boys old boy is just about to break Kobe Bryants’ record in the American Basketball league.
The LAPPSET project is fully complete and its business as usual. Oil is being extracted peacefully in Turkana and the proceeds trickle to the community. The otherwise poor community is now prosperous and one of the most distinct communities in Kenya due to the newly exploited black gold. Lamu is now a big town — somehow they have still managed to maintain their narrow streets in a great way. Despite the huge port town it is, it is well organised and a major tourism destination especially for Italians and Germans. The port authority processes hundreds of cargo in a day which are then boarded enroute to Garrissa, Isiolo, Marsabit, Lodwar, parts of southern Ethiopia and Southern Sudan. There are talks of making Isiolo a city. The town has become the major hub in Northern Kenya. Kenyans of Somali origin have made the town a major business hub. Some Nairobi business people usually head to Isiolo to get their stocks to re-sell at Nairobi and other towns. The town is growing rapidly because food is in plenty and cheap due to its proximity to Mount Kenya highlands.
In some of the major arid and semi-arid areas in Kenya the government has been able to set up major dams and irrigation areas and they are surprisingly yielding lots of produce. Most of the produce is being exported to Middle East, Europe surrounding East African countries. The government is now able to mitigate periodic drought. There are now fewer conflicts due to shrinking resources especially water during the drier times of the year. If there’s a major drought the government has found an amicable way of compensating the pastoralists. In fact they are nowadays more settled after being shown new ways of grazing their livestock that doesn’t involve major migration(s) in search of food and water.
Nairobi looks better than it was in 2020. Nairobi has grown 4-fold. It is one big city from Thika to the North, Konza City to the South East, Ngong to the south and Naivasha to the North West. Because of the perceived growth pattern, they adopted what has come to be known as the spider-web pattern growth strategy. Back in 2015 Nairobi built by-pass road that would go round Nairobi to the North and to the South. Nowadays those roads are just estate-linking roads. A major by pass has just being completed that goes round Konza City, Ngong, Suswa and back to Naivasha while to the North a Major by-pass going through Machakos, Kagundo straight to Thika, through Kiambu and then to Naivasha. Nairobi Spine highway formerly Thika highway has being expanded to go through Nairobi straight to Ngong town (Nairobi South). Next year there are plans of building a high speed train subway linking the 4 towns together with Nairobi as the center. I hear it will only take 15 mins for one living in Naivasha to get to Nairobi — it will be wonderful news once its completed. Matatus in the CBD is a thing of the past; in fact the nearest a matatu can get to CBD is Muthaiga along Nairobi Spine Highway; Westlands along Uhuru Highway from the West coming towards Nairobi; Bellevue along Mombasa Road; Prestige plaza along Ngong Road and City Stadium along Jogoo Road. When you alight at those major centers you have the option of boarding a metro-tram or a bus that is allowed to go inside the CBD. They are government owned hence disciplined and orderly; not chasing after money. The people who have not being in Nairobi for a many years come back and are quite amused with the orderliness.