By:Robert Mutasi
Former nominated senator Millicent Omanga has launched a scathing attack on President William Ruto’s newly unveiled Vision 2060, terming it a misplaced priority at a time when mothers in public hospitals lack basic essentials like sanitary pads.
Speaking on Wednesday after donating maternity kits and sanitary pads to new mothers at a public hospital in Nairobi, Omanga said the government should focus on fixing the collapsed healthcare system instead of selling Kenyans a dream that is 35 years away.
The former senator, who was captured walking through the maternity wing in navy blue scrubs distributing Sofy Care sanitary pads and FEMSMART supplements to mothers lying in wards labeled CUBE 7 and CUBE 8, said it was ironic that the President was talking about Vision 2060 while mothers are sharing beds and cannot afford pads after delivery.
“How can you talk about Vision 2060 when in 2026 mothers don’t have pads, hospitals don’t have drugs, and nurses are overworked? Let’s fix the present before we dream about 2060,” Omanga said while addressing journalists in the hospital corridor.
Omanga, who was accompanied by nurses in pink uniforms and hospital staff, said her visit had exposed the harsh reality in public hospitals, which she said contradicts the grand vision being marketed by the Kenya Kwanza administration.
President Ruto last week launched “The National Conversation: Beyond Vision 2030” at KICC, which will culminate in Vision 2060 to succeed Vision 2030. The Head of State said the new blueprint will focus on industrialization, jobs and long-term economic transformation.
But Omanga, who was once a staunch supporter of the President, said Kenyans are tired of long-term blueprints when short-term needs remain unmet.
“We had Vision 2030. Most of its promises have not been achieved. Now you are bringing Vision 2060. Kenyans don’t need another document with big English. They need drugs in hospitals, they need SHA to work, they need school fees to come down,” she stated.
She accused the government of using Vision 2060 to distract Kenyans from the high cost of living, the chaos in the health sector following the transition from NHIF to Social Health Authority (SHA), and the failure of flagship projects.
“You cannot tell a mother who has just given birth and has no sanitary towel that you have a vision for 2060. Her vision is today. Her vision is how to feed her baby today,” she added.
The former legislator challenged the government to extend the Vision 2060 dialogue to hospitals, markets and villages to hear what ordinary Kenyans want, instead of holding it in high-end hotels in Nairobi.
Her remarks echo sentiments by a section of opposition leaders who have dismissed Vision 2060 as a public relations exercise.
Omanga said she will continue supporting mothers through her personal initiative, noting that dignity for women should be the foundation of any national vision.
