WAJIR— Tarbaj Member of Parliament Hussein Abdi Barre has welcomed the progress recorded under Kenya’s broad-based political alliance while cautioning that pastoral communities in Northern Kenya could be sidelined as the country charts an ambitious path beyond Vision 2030.
In a statement following a two-day retreat convened by the alliance under President William Ruto and ODM leader Senator Oburu Odinga, Barre said the gathering had highlighted tangible socio-economic and political gains achieved since the 2022 general election. Among the advances he cited were improved security, stabilised food supplies, expanded teacher recruitment to ease shortages, and the progressive implementation of the Competency-Based Education system.
He also pointed to the stabilisation of the Kenya shilling, increased enrolment in social insurance schemes, advances in the affordable housing programme, expanded transport and communication infrastructure, growth in tourism and foreign direct investment, and the passage of key legislation. These include the National Infrastructure Fund, intended to mobilise resources for major projects that annual budgets cannot fully support, and a revised tertiary education financing model that extends support to students in technical and vocational institutions.
Building on these foundations and the relative political stability created by the broad-based arrangement, the alliance is preparing a more ambitious development agenda aimed at transforming Kenya into a first-world economy in the coming decades. A ten-member technical team drawn from the United Democratic Alliance and the Orange Democratic Movement has been appointed to draft a shared manifesto ahead of the 2027 general election.
MP Hussein Barre, an elected UDA legislator and supporter of the broad-based initiative, described the overall direction as both necessary and promising. However, he expressed concern that Northern Kenya’s pastoral regions risk exclusion from the emerging vision. He recalled unfulfilled commitments in the 2022 UDA manifesto, including expanded trade opportunities with Somalia—an East African Community partner—and the restructuring of the livestock sector to strengthen arid-area economies.
The composition of the technical team, he argued, fails to reflect the distinct lifestyles, economic realities and opportunities of Kenya’s extensive pastoral communities. Combined with the current foreign policy approach towards Somalia, where many Kenyan pastoralists live along the border, and the communal or trust-land status of the region’s primary resource—land—these communities stand to miss out on the benefits of the post-2030 agenda.
“Leaders, especially those in positions of influence who support this new vision, must act early to secure the rightful place of pastoral communities,” MP Barre said. He urged pastoralist leaders to assess their position in the national blueprint and to demand qualified representation on the technical team shaping the common manifesto.
Hussein Abdi Barre further called for a forward-looking review of land tenure in pastoral areas, taking into account population growth and social change, so that the resource can attract investment and create opportunities for the large numbers of young people leaving educational institutions each year. He also stressed the need for a more deliberate evaluation of Kenya’s relations with neighbouring countries, particularly fellow East African Community members, to ensure these ties expand rather than constrain economic and social opportunities for citizens.
“The time has passed when political leaders could treat foreign policy towards our neighbours as distant or secondary,” he stated.
“The moment has come for leaders from pastoral communities to engage fully and help shape Kenya’s progress in a manner that leaves no region behind.”
Barre’s statement offers both endorsement of the alliance’s achievements to date and a clear call for more inclusive planning as Kenya looks beyond 2030.
