How the late Nyeri governor played a key part in Kenya's Vision 2030

Kenyans woke up to the tragic news of Nyeri governor Wahome Gakuru's death following a grisly road accident on Tuesday morning along the Thika-Murang'a road.

The governor was heading to Nairobi for a morning talk show before the unfortunate incident happened, claiming his life while leaving his driver and bodyguard with serious injuries.

Born 51 years ago, Gakuru was considered to be one of the sharpest brains on matters economics.

The MBA graduate from the Willamette University served as the first Director of the Kenya Vision 2030 at the Presidency and Cabinet Affairs Office and later at the Ministry of State for Planning, National Development and Vision 2030.

The Kenya Vision 2030 is the national long-term development policy that aims to transform Kenya into a newly industrializing, middle-income country providing a high quality of life to all its citizens by 2030 in a clean and secure environment.

Business Insider SSA looks at how Gakuru made immense contribution in implementation of the Vision 2030 development policy in his stint as the Director of the development programme:

Analyzing the sector

The late Nyeri governor was part of the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) team that examined the sectors that had historically contributed the most to Kenya’s GDP, such as agriculture and tourism, to determine their potential for growth.

Consulting the public

Gakuru echoed the then President Mwai Kibaki's message of not developing the Vision 2030 "around Nairobi's elite." This prompted the NESC to rally around public participation so as to ensure the strategy reflected citizens’ priorities.

Setting targets, drafting action plans

Gakuru and the team organized sector committees of ministry staff, academics, business people and civil society leaders to discuss the biggest gaps in each sector and make recommendations for large scale projects or reforms that would lead to further improvements.

Planning for implementation

The committee developed a Vision Delivery Secretariat to meet the vision 2030's ambitious targets. "Many of the projects cut through different ministries and agencies, so there needed to be a body that has a bird’s-eye view,” Gakuru said.

Building support

His team regularly briefed journalists on progress and arranged two 3-day press workshops to discuss what national vision means [and] why this Vision 2030 document was important for the country.

Wahome Gakuru's last moments