Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga is expected to be the chief guest at the seventh devolution conference in Wote, Makueni.
Raila arrived at the conference at 11 am. The three-day event will end on Friday.
President Uhuru Kenyatta had been expected to open the event but is now expected to give a recorded opening speech and officially open the meeting.
Interior CS Fred Matiang'i said Raila was the chief guest and would give the key note speech at the meeting.
The event has also seen an ongoing tree-planting initiative where 1,999,999 trees have been planted.
The trees have been planted in Makueni, Machakos, Kitui, Embu and Kajiado counties.
President Kenyatta is expected to plant the two millionth tree during the conference.
CLIMATE CHANGE ACTION
This year's theme is ‘Multi-level Governance for Climate Action: Sub National Mobilisation in Unlocking the Full Potential of Climate Action during after pandemics.’
Devolution Cabinet Secretary Charles Keter said that strict Covid-19 measures will be adhered to during the conference.
“CoG in collaboration with the Ministry of Health will roll out a vaccination drive at the Council’s offices from November 16 to 18 to ensure that all delegates are fully vaccinated,” Keter said.
Keter said they will ensure the conference addresses issues affecting climate change.
CoG vice-chairman James Ongwae praised Makueni county for its preparedness towards hosting the conference.
“Makueni county currently has eleven isolation beds, eighty HDU beds, and nine ICU beds to ensure an arising emergency support and response,” Ongwae said.
Governor Ongwae further said that the conference is timely with the Glasgow conference for climate change.
"We are going to discuss the implementation modalities of ensuring sub-national governments are part of the whole process," he said.
Governor Kivutha Kibwana welcomed all delegates and participants to the conference.
"This is an opportunity to discuss this [important issues of changing climate] especially for communities that are at a risk of the climate challenge, and explain to them how to combat it," Kibwana said.
The conference will have five sessions in the main plenum and 14 sector breakaway sessions.
The conference, which has been held annually in the last six years, will be scheduled once every two years starting 2022.
This conference was to be held in August this year but was postponed due to Covid-19 directives in the country.
Initially, the conference had been scheduled for May 3 to May 7, 2021.
More than 3,000 fully vaccinated delegates are attending the conference at Makueni Boys High School.
Agencies involved in planning the conference include the CoG, the Presidency, Ministry of Devolution, development partners, and Senate.
Others are the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Ministry of Health, County Assemblies Forum, civil society organisations, and the private sector.
Edited by D Tarus
