How Gachagua scuttled Ruto’s planned 'Vision 2060' launch

By Newsflash Writer

When State House announced that President William Ruto would deliver a Special National Address on Thursday, July 30, at 7.30 p.m., speculation spread rapidly across the country over what the Head of State was preparing to unveil.

The address came against the backdrop of heightened political tensions following the ruling UDA party’s humiliating defeat to former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) in the Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election on July 16.

Political circles were awash with claims that the President was considering a Cabinet reshuffle targeting ministers from the Mt Kenya region amid reports of strained relations with Deputy President Kithure Kindiki.

Other reports suggested Ruto was preparing to broaden his government by reaching out to Wiper Patriotic Front (WPF) leader Kalonzo Musyoka after claims that emissaries had been dispatched to open talks with him.

As anticipation reached fever pitch, it was Gachagua who appeared to steal the President’s thunder.

Gachagua’s surprise revelation

While hosting a delegation of clergy at his Wamunyoro residence in Nyeri as part of his ongoing political consultations, Gachagua stunned supporters by claiming he already knew what the President intended to announce.

“Can I tell you what he is planning to tell Kenyans?” Gachagua asked amid laughter from his audience.

“He is planning to launch Vision 2060!”

He dismissed the alleged plan, arguing that the government should first account for its current performance instead of focusing on the distant future.

“That vision is something we will plan next year. Why are you worried about the next 60 years? Tell us what you have done in the last one year,” he said.

Gachagua went further and alleged that Ruto intended to appoint former President Uhuru Kenyatta to spearhead the initiative.

“We are telling my elder brother Uhuru Kenyatta, don’t allow yourself to be dragged into that mess,” he claimed.

The remarks immediately ignited debate online and within political circles, with many waiting to see whether the President would indeed unveil the ambitious Vision 2060 blueprint.

Last-minute change?

However, when Ruto finally addressed the nation hours later, he stopped short of officially launching Vision 2060.

Instead, the President announced what he described as a national conversation that would shape Kenya’s development agenda after Vision 2030.

“Accordingly, on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, we shall formally launch the National Conversation on Kenya’s Future Beyond Vision 2030; the most consequential exercise in national reflection and public participation since the promulgation of our Constitution in 2010,” Ruto said.

The President emphasised that the process would be driven by public participation, insisting that the country’s next long-term development blueprint could not be designed by government alone.

The sequence of events has fuelled widespread speculation that Gachagua’s public disclosure may have forced a last-minute rethink within State House, although there has been no official confirmation that any planned announcement was altered.

This has also revived questions about the former Deputy President’s apparent access to sensitive government information.

Only days earlier, Gachagua had boldly claimed that he possesses intelligence from within government that surpasses what even the President receives.

“I am a walking box of intelligence. I get more intelligence more than the President himself, because he is busy doing business than following up what is happening in the country,” he said.