Veteran journalist Linus Kaikai has taken aim at President William Ruto’s ambitious Singapore-inspired development plan, warning that Kenya cannot simply copy the city-state’s model.
He spoke during a heated segment on the Newsgang show on Wednesday.
Kaikai pointed out the stark size difference between the two countries.
“Singapore is just 50 kilometres in diameter, about the distance from Nairobi to Thika. Kenya is nearly 800 times bigger,” he said, cautioning that what works in Singapore may not scale to Kenya’s vast population and geography.
The journalist also highlighted Singapore’s carefully scripted path to success, which heavily relied on meritocracy and long-term state planning.
“I hope we can have less noise about Singapore and do what we need to do to be like Singapore,” Kaikai added, urging Kenyan leaders to focus on solutions suited to local realities rather than copying foreign models blindly.
Ruto has repeatedly cited Singapore as a blueprint for his government’s industrialisation and urban transformation ambitions.
Kaikai stressed that Kenya needs a development path tailored to its own scale and diversity.
He said merit-based governance, institutional reforms, and careful long-term planning are key if the country hopes to achieve results similar to Singapore without attempting an exact replica.