Kiambu gubernatorial aspirant Muita Ndungu has questioned whether one of Kenya's richest counties is getting enough value from its strong economy, saying high recurrent spending and low voter participation show the need for a new style of leadership ahead of the 2027 General Election.
Speaking during a Radio Generation interview on Wednesday, Ndungu said Kiambu has an economy valued at about Sh860 billion, making it the third-largest county economy in Kenya after Nairobi and Nakuru. Despite that position, he argued that residents are yet to enjoy services and development that reflect the county's economic strength.
Ndungu said Governor Kimani Wamatangi has delivered projects that are visible across the county, but insisted the administration should be measured against what Kiambu is capable of achieving rather than how previous governors performed.
"If Kiambu's economy is that big, and here we're not talking about the budget allocation, we're just talking about the GDP or what the county produces, if Kiambu is that productive, then are we getting value for what it is that we are doing? If you interrogate the happenings in Kiambu, for example, recurrent expenditure is very high. I'm a libertarian, and libertarians believe in small government, efficiency and freedom."
County budget records indicate that recurrent expenditure has continued to take the biggest share of Kiambu's spending over the past several financial years.
The county spent about Sh15.94 billion on recurrent expenditure in the 2022/23 financial year. The figure stood at Sh15.90 billion in FY2023/24 before dropping slightly to Sh15.72 billion in FY2024/25. It is projected to rise to Sh16.15 billion in FY2025/26 and further increase to about Sh16.60 billion in FY2026/27.
Across the five-year period, recurrent expenditure has accounted for about 65 to 67 per cent of the county's total budget, leaving roughly one-third for development projects.
While acknowledging Wamatangi's efforts, Ndungu maintained that Kiambu is still performing below its economic capacity.
"Why it may look like Wamatangi is really performing is because since devolution 16 years ago, the bar was set too low for Kiambu. The kind of governors we have had before, from Kabogo to Waititu and now Wamatangi. If you are judging Wamatangi based on the predecessors who were there, then he's performing, even that I have to admit. But if you are looking at the potential of Kiambu, then he is seriously underperforming."
Ndungu also pointed to voter turnout during the 2022 gubernatorial election, saying the results reflected widespread voter apathy in a county that has one of the country's largest voting populations.
"Forty-five per cent of the registered voters in Kiambu did not vote. Governor Wamatangi got in with about 348,000 votes, the lowest of his predecessors. Many people looked at the choices and felt they would sit the election out. The turnout was actually one of the lowest in the Mount Kenya region despite Kiambu having one of the biggest voting blocs."
Official results from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission show Kiambu had 1,275,168 registered voters in the 2022 election. A total of 816,786 valid votes were cast in the gubernatorial race, giving a voter turnout of about 64.1 per cent.
More than 458,000 registered voters did not cast a valid gubernatorial ballot. Wamatangi, who vied on a UDA ticket, won with 348,371 votes, representing 42.65 per cent of the total votes cast. Independent candidate Patrick Wainaina Wa Jungle came second with 237,361 votes, or 29.06 per cent. The result made Wamatangi the first Kiambu governor elected with fewer than 350,000 votes since the start of devolution.
Even so, Ndungu acknowledged that the governor has a loyal political base, although he believes many voters remain open to a different choice.
"It would be foolhardy to deny that Wamatangi has his support. He has a bedrock support and that probably won't change, but there is room to activate those who did not vote for him and those who voted for other candidates."
Ndungu said future political contests in Kiambu should move away from emotional campaigns and instead focus on governance, responsible use of public resources and unlocking the county's full economic potential.
In a separate interview on Citizen TV on Tuesday, Kisumu Governor Peter Anyang' Nyong'o defended the ongoing preparation of Kenya's Vision 2060, saying the country cannot afford to wait until Vision 2030 comes to an end before planning for the next phase of development.
Nyong'o, who chairs the working group tasked with preparing the country's transition to first-world status, said Vision 2060 is meant to guide Kenya's development for the next three decades while providing a clear roadmap after the current blueprint expires.
Drawing from his experience as Minister for Planning and National Development after the 2002 General Election, Nyong'o said long-term planning is necessary if Kenya is to sustain progress.
"We are looking further than 2030," he said, noting that the current blueprint is nearing its end. "We need to have a vision."
He said the proposed plan is built around three main pillars: a democratic political system, a strong economy and a society where development and opportunities are shared fairly among all Kenyans.
"I could put the plan on three pillars really – political, economic and social," he said, adding that both the national and county governments would play key roles in delivering the vision.
Nyong'o stressed that Vision 2060 should be owned by the country rather than any one administration. He said political parties, religious organisations, interest groups and members of the public would all be invited to contribute before the document is finalised.
"The people must be engaged. You can't have a vision in which people are not engaged," he said.
Responding to concerns about the target of launching the blueprint before the end of 2026, Nyong'o admitted the timeline was ambitious but said public participation and further improvements could continue as the process moves forward.
"We are ready to launch it," he said. "It's very ambitious, but if you're not ambitious, you cannot achieve much."
He also dismissed calls to suspend work on Vision 2060 until Vision 2030 is fully reviewed, saying both processes can take place at the same time.
"We need to have an audit definitely," he said when asked about evaluating Vision 2030. "Nothing stops us from doing that... sort it out at the same time and look ahead."
Nyong'o estimated that Vision 2030 had achieved about 80 per cent of its targets, citing democratic progress, devolution and economic growth among its achievements. He, however, said some programmes fell behind because of inadequate funding and called for stronger efforts to attract investment under the next development plan.
On the issue of artificial intelligence, Nyong'o said the working group had not discussed it in detail but added that the document would remain open to changes as new ideas emerge through public consultations.
"We are flexible," he said. "What we have put in the public domain is for discussion; it's not to impose the ideas on the people."
Even so, the proposed Vision 2060 continues to attract mixed views. Some politicians, analysts and members of the public believe work on a new national development blueprint should only begin after an independent review of Vision 2030 is completed.
Others argue that unveiling a new 30-year plan before the 2027 General Election could make it harder to build broad national support, with concerns that the process could become politically contested instead of remaining a shared national agenda.
There have also been calls for the government to first address immediate challenges such as public debt, the high cost of living and governance concerns before introducing another long-term development strategy. Human rights groups have also maintained that any future national blueprint should be built on accountability, constitutionalism and the protection of civil liberties.
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