The Council of Governors (CoG) will host the 2025 devolution conference in Homa Bay County, a resolution made during a meeting held at their office in Nairobi on Tuesday.
Addressing the media after chairing the steering committee’s meeting, Nyeri County Governor Mutati Kahiga, who is also the Vice Chairperson of CoG, stated that the devolution family has announced the commencement of the planning for the Devolution Conference 2025, which is one of the most important tools to showcase devolution in Kenya with a theme of ‘For People, For Prosperity’.
“Importantly, it serves as a platform for knowledge sharing to enhance the implementation of devolution in Kenya. The conference will bring together state and non-state actors and will be planned and guided by a multi-agency steering committee,” he said, adding that the membership of the committee includes the CoG and the Executive Office of the Deputy President.
Dr. Kahiga highlighted that devolution is a catalyst for equity, inclusion, and social Justice under the sub-theme of reengineering County Governments to accelerate development and close the socioeconomic gap.
The conference will be held in Homa Bay County from August 12 to 15, 2025.
Kahiga pointed out that the steering committee agreed that the structure and discussions on the Devolution Conference 2025 are to infuse international standards this year.
“We will be opening up the conference to include partner-led side events, further to ensure the side events meet the standards of the conference, ” he added.
Kahiga added that a scientific committee will be constituted to vet proposals from partners and interested parties, noting that registration of delegates is expected to go fully digital.
“A state-of-the-art website and mobile application are under development to enhance the delegates’ experience during the conference with all the logistics available to the participants. The conference website will be launched as we commence the call for registration, which will kick off in March 2025,” he said.
Kahiga hinted that Homa Bay County will curate various activities, like cultural and tourism, that the delegates can partake in during the conference, and it will be uploaded to the devolution’s website.
“We want to assure Kenyans that this year’s conference will be one like no other. We expect the platform will offer an opportunity to learn, network, and forge partnerships that will advance the devolution discourse in Kenya,” he assured.
Principal Secretary (PS) State Department for Devolution, Office of the Deputy President (PS) Teresia Mbaika reiterated their commitment to work together to ensure the success of the Devolution Conference 2025.
“The devolution subject is not just a subject of either of the two levels. It is a collaborative approach that devolution works, so on behalf of the national government and all stakeholders, we want to commit that we are going to participate fully and support this course which we work on, she promised.
Mbaika called upon all the state departments and ministries to work together to ensure a successful devolution conference.
“I want to call upon our partners globally, the civil society, media, and all Kenyans to participate,” she urged.
Homa Bay County Governor Gladys Wanga welcomed the national government, development partners, civil society organisations, all Kenyans, and stakeholders of devolution to Homa Bay in August 2025 for the Devolution Conference.
“As a platform for equity, social justice, and inclusion, we hope to see our young people, women, and persons with disabilities coming together to engage actively on how devolution can work for everybody and how devolution is for the people of Kenya,” Wanga stated, adding that the conference brings an opportunity for her county to showcase the beauty and endless potential, including in tourism sectors.
Echoing the Vice Chairperson of CoG’s sentiments, Nominated Senator Catherine Mumma commended the steering committee for picking a topic based on the prevailing social media conversation.
“We are fixated on the issue of equity and inclusion, so the conference provides 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 as contained in the 2010 Constitution, is assisting us to achieve the goals of equity, inclusion, and people-centred governance,” she echoed.
She added that the steering committee welcomes all interested parties to seize the opportunity to explore opportunities in Homa Bay County.
“I speak on behalf of the Senate Speaker, Jaffa Kingi, and my fellow senators, and we wish to encourage everyone from every sector to come up and even adopt a session in which you can give feedback on how well the issue of governance and how well counties and the national government can work to ensure that we deliver greater equity and inclusion in development in this country,” she added.
By Clinton Ng’iela
