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Kisumu City will April next year, play host to the largest Africities Summit ever, President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced. 

President Uhuru said that the event will be a gathering that will feature ministers, mayors and leaders of local authorities, representatives of civil society, the private sector, academia, national, regional, and international financial institutions, development partners and other stakeholders.

An estimated 10,000 guests, including exhibitors from across Africa and beyond, are expected to descend on Kenya’s third-largest city.

Touted as the largest democratic gathering in Africa, Africities is a brainchild of United Cities and Local Governments of Africa which focuses on the need for the continent to learn about, promote and present a new approach to sustainable development and is premised on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Addressing the 58th Madaraka Day celebrations at the Jomo Kenyatta International Stadium, the Head of State described Kisumu as the historical hub of East African cooperation and the intellectual incubator of some of the leading ideas behind Kenya’s liberation movement.

“This City and, indeed, this region are the gateways to the hinterlands of East and Central Africa, a special position they have held for centuries, tying our peoples in bonds of trade, friendship, and family,” said President Kenyatta. 

National heritage

He said that the choice of Kisumu to host Madaraka Day this year, is also intertwined with the national heritage.

“There cannot be a better place to celebrate our liberation struggle and ponder the future of our self-rule than Kisumu City.

I thank you the people and the leaders of Kisumu and the entire Nyanza Region for your warm welcome, and the great work that has gone into hosting this year’s Madaraka Day Celebrations,” said President Kenyatta.

The Head State also took the opportunity to explain the significance of the ‘Handshake’ between him and Opposition chief Raila Odinga, saying it has forged a lasting bond between the people of Kenya.

“This congregation is also a celebration of the ‘Handshake’; a new political normal that not only embraces competition, but also encourages reconciliation, and the healing of wounds – irregardless of how fierce the competition was. Being in Kisumu today is significant and uplifting as we forge lasting bonds between the people of Kenya,” he said. 

President Kenyatta explained that the Doyen of Opposition politics the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, led the push to release Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and the “Kapenguria Six”,  adding that during the detention, union leaders from Luo Nyanza stepped into the gap to ensure that the liberation momentum was not lost.

“The national motto of “Harambee”, introduced as a political rallying-call in Kisumu city during the 1950s. Kisumu was the epicenter of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and the Kapenguria Six illegal detention,” he said.

Kisumu now joins the growing list of counties that have played host to a national day celebration which includes Nakuru, Nyeri, Machakos, Meru, Kakamega, Narok, Mombasa and Kisii.nya is hosting the summit after Nairobi, the country’s capital, staged the fourth edition in 2006.