Presidential hopeful Fred Ogola has openly challenged President William Ruto’s pledge to turn Kenya into a “first world” country, saying the promise is based on wrong history, confuses the public and ignores the real struggles facing many Kenyans today.
Speaking during an interview on Radio Generation, Ogola said the idea of a “first world” has nothing to do with true development and should not be used as a national goal. He explained that the terms first world, second world and third world were created during the Cold War and were meant to describe political sides, not levels of progress.
“During the Cold War, if you aligned with the USA and capitalism you were called first world, if you aligned with the USSR and communism you were second world. Anyone who opposed both was labelled third world,” he said. Ogola added that when those meanings are applied, many countries often praised today would not fit into the first world category.
“So who informed the President to make such a mistake?” Ogola asked. “Even Japan, even Singapore, even Korea — they would technically be ‘third world’ by that logic.”
He said the continued use of such language shows a deeper issue where African societies adopt foreign ideas without questioning them. According to Ogola, this mindset pushes people to chase images of progress that do not reflect their own reality.
“There are so many dark things we have put in our heads as Africans,” he said. “We are told modernism means wearing suits and ties so that people can sell us shoes, clothes and sugar. We have been brainwashed.”
Ogola called on Kenyans to move away from borrowed slogans and instead focus on steady and realistic growth that addresses daily needs. He used air travel as an example to explain his point, saying it makes little sense to dream big while basic issues remain unresolved.
“If you can’t fly to Johannesburg, can you fly to Singapore?” he asked. “If there is no food on the table, Kenyans are dying of hunger.”
He also criticised changes in the health sector, saying the Social Health Authority is failing to deliver. Referring to his 17 years overseeing health facilities in Nairobi, Ogola said available information clearly shows the system is not working.
“SHA is not working. The biggest data in our books shows it is not working,” he said.
Ogola argued that lasting progress can only come from local thinking, skill and responsibility. He said countries that have succeeded did so by relying on their own people rather than copying labels or ideas from elsewhere.
“Singapore was built by the best and brightest of that country,” he said. “Kenya must be built the same way — by thinking like Kenyans, being pragmatic, and solving our own problems first.”
President William Ruto has in recent months stood by his plan to turn Kenya into a first-world economy. He has said new funding tools approved by Cabinet will play a major role in reducing poverty and supporting long-term development.
Speaking in Turkana County during the Tobong’u Lore cultural festival on Tuesday, the President said the National Infrastructure Fund and the Sovereign Wealth Fund will support his economic agenda. He said the aim is to help more than 10 million Kenyans who are currently living below the poverty line.
The President said the approval of the funds marked a new approach to how development projects will be financed across the country.
“Hiyo plan ya 5 trillion tulianza jana. By next year, we will be halfway. We want to lift over 10 million from poverty in Kenya. 80% of Turkana is living below the poverty line. We have set aside a Sh1.5 trillion budget to build dams in Kenya,” he said.
