Vision 2030 and the Gender Question in Kenya

The article sets out to demonstrate the question of gender violence as a critical concern as Kenya seeks to implement her ambitious vision 2030. In other words, how can gender based violence affect the Implementation of Kenya vision 2030? Can it hinder Kenya’s ambitious enterprises in the 21st century? Certainly, Kenya’s Vision 2030 is a long term development blue print that seeks to transform Kenya into a newly industrializing middle income country. In so doing, it aims at providing a high quality life to all its citizens in a clean and secure environment.  The plan is anchored on three pillars, economic, social and political governance. The economic pillar aims to achieve an economic growth rate of 10% per annum; and sustaining the same till 2030 in order to generate more resources that will eventually address Kenya’s development goals. In turn, the social pillar seeks to create just, cohesive and equitable social development in a clean and secure environment; and the political pillar seeks to realize an issue based, people centered, result oriented and accountable democratic system. In view of this, Gender Based Violence is an umbrella term for any harmful act that is perpetrated against a person’s will and which is based on socially ascribed (gender) differences between men and women. Gender-based Violence (GBV) describes the specific type of violence that is linked to the gendered identity of being a woman or man. Gender based Violence traumatizes men, women and children. It destroys careers, and hurts the national economies among other negative effects. The main objective of this article is to show the link between Gender Based Violence and Kenya vision 2030. Methodologically, it starts by summarizing the vision 2030 highlighting its major strategies like education and training, health sector, Equity and poverty reduction, environment management, tourism, water and sanitation, electoral and political processes, democracy and public service, gender and youth among others and major flagship projects like Konza Techno city, expansion of port of Mombasa, the building of standard gauge railway, modernization of Jomo Kenyatta airport, expansion of Lamu  port  among others. Using the society of International development report and other organizations who have constantly audited the implementation of the vision 2030 since it began in 2008, the article will show how gender based violence will slow the achievement of the vision 2030.  It will also show how reducing gender based violence would help in its achievement. The materials in this article have been methodologically gathered through participant observation, reading of relevant literature, field research conducted in 2015 and sampling the city of Nairobi which largely speaks for Kenya and the larger East Africa.