NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 2 — President William Ruto has defended the government’s proposed Vision 2060 blueprint, saying the long-term development plan will be anchored in the Constitution and protected from electoral politics.Speaking during a church service in Uasin Gishu County on Sunday, in his first public remarks since unveiling the initiative, Ruto said Kenya had made significant progress in implementing constitutional provisions on governance, political parties and human rights but had yet to fully operationalise the Constitution’s development agenda.“The Vision 2030 was unveiled before we had the 2010 Constitution. It is time to operationalise the chapter of development of the Republic of Kenya,” Ruto said.He said the process of developing Vision 2060 must involve Kenyans across the country and should not be left to political leaders.“That charter cannot be done with leaders only; the people must join in the conversation of operationalising that chapter of development of Kenya,” he said.The President maintained that the proposed national development charter would not be shaped by political interests or the 2027 General Election, but would instead provide a legally anchored framework to guide Kenya’s economic and social transformation over the coming decades.“It is going to be a conversation about the future of Kenya, and we are going to put it into law,” he said.The remarks come days after Ruto announced that the government will begin nationwide public consultations on August 12 to develop Vision 2060 as a successor to Vision 2030, Kenya’s long-term development blueprint launched in 2008.The consultation process is expected to bring together the private sector, academia, civil society, faith-based organisations, professional bodies, workers, the creative industry and young people.The proposed blueprint is expected to build on the gains of Vision 2030, which has guided investments and policy interventions in infrastructure, manufacturing, agriculture, financial services, tourism, education and healthcare.The government says a new long-term strategy is necessary to align national development planning with the aspirations of the 2010 Constitution while ensuring policy continuity beyond successive political administrations.The nationwide dialogue is expected to culminate in a citizen-driven development charter that the government intends to anchor in law, positioning Vision 2060 as Kenya’s long-term strategic roadmap for economic and social transformation beyond the expiry of Vision 2030.