Homa Bay County to host this year's devolution conference

Council of Governors Vice Chair Mutahi Kahiga, during a media briefing on the preparation of the devolution conference to be held in Homabay county in August this year. [Benard Orwongo, Standard]

Homa Bay County will host this year’s annual Devolution Conference(DEVCON).

The conference, which brings together all 47 counties to take stock of the impact of devolution, will take place between August 12 and 15 at a venue to be announced.

The Council of Governors vice chairman Mutahi Kahiga told journalists the conference will bring together state and non-state actors and will be planned and guided by a Multi-Agency Steering Committee.

“The membership of this committee includes the Council of Governors, the Executive Office of the Deputy President, represented by the Principal Secretary, State Department for Devolution, the Senate, the County Assemblies Forum, the Host County, Youth Council, Kenya Private Sector Alliance(KEPSA) and Civil Society Organisations(CSOs),” said Kahiga.

The Nyeri County Governor said the theme of the conferee will be, “For the People; For Prosperity: Devolution as a Catalyst for Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice” and the sub-theme “Re-engineering County Governments to Accelerate Development and Close the Socio-Economic Divide”.

Kahiga said the Steering Committee meeting agreed that in order to infuse international standards at DEVCON this year, the conference will open up to include partner-led side events.

“Further, to ensure the side events meet the standards of the conference, a scientific committee, will be constituted to vet proposals from partners and interested parties,” he said.

On registration and delegates' experience, he said the conference is expected to go fully digital.

“A state-of-the-art website and mobile application is under development to enhance the delegates' experience during the conference with all the logistics about the conference will be available to the participants. The conference website will be launched as we commence the call for registration, which will kick off in March 2025,” said Kahiga.

Additionally, he said the host County will curate various activities (cultural and tourist) that the delegates can partake while in the conference and the same will be uploaded in the DEVCON website.

Homa Bay County Governor appreciated CoG for choosing the county to be the host of the event.

“We hope that we shall have a platform to discuss the theme of the event and we hope to see our young people, women and persons with disability engage on how devolution can work for everybody and how it is for the people of Kenya,” said Wanga.

She added: “We also hope to take the opportunity to showcase the beauty and endless tourism potential of Homa Bay County, which hosts 80 per cent of Lake Victoria, beautiful island, crater lakes, hot springs, national parks and more you will see when you come to Homa Bay.”

Speaking at the event Devolution Principal Secretary Teresia Mbaika, who is also a co-chair of the Steering Committee promised full national government support to ensure that the conference succeeds.

“I also call upon all our partners including the media and civil societies to participate,” she said.

Speaking on behalf of Senate Speaker Amason Kingi, Senator Catherine Mumma who is also Vice- Chairperson, of the Senate Standing Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations and a co-chair of the Steering Committee lauded the CoG for picking the part on equity and inclusion in the theme.

"You will agree with me that in the social media conversation today, we are fixated on the issue of equity and inclusion," said Mumma.

She added: "The conference will provide a good opportunity for Kenyans and other people interested in Kenya to come together and discuss how well the first tool of equity which is devolution in the 2010 Constitution is assisting us to achieve the goal of equity, inclusion and people-centered governance."