After completing his keynote speech during Devolution Conference 2018, Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga was gifted with an African horn by Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru.
Waiguru, on behalf of the Council of Governors (CoG), presented the symbolic horn as a gesture for dialogue after the handshake with President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The announcer explained that the African horn was symbolic in that it was used to call people for consultative meetings.
"The horn was used to call people to come and practice participatory democracy," he stated.
Here is the video courtesy of KTNNews:
Seemingly excited, Raila received the horn and blew it to signal he had commenced on his mission calling for dialogue.
While delivering the keynote address, he hailed the successes of devolved units over the past 5 years before highlighting threats to devolution that he maintained must be addressed.
"We need to bite the bullet and revisit the structure of devolution. The Bomas draft had 14 regions and the intention was to have units that were economically viable. It is time to look at how to recover this system.
"I propose a 3-tier system that retains the counties, creates regional or provincial governments and retains the national government with a clear formula of revenue sharing," he declared.
Earlier in the day, there was a light moment when Raila cracked up the leaders in the room stating: "I see most of you seem tired. Is it because governor Governor Oparanya said Kakamega will be a 24-hour economy?
"In fact, he tells me some people decided to reduce his electricity bills by working at night in darkness.
Similarly, Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa poked fun at Governor Waiguru after a video of her deputy governor emerged online.
"What Oparanya said yesterday (about the 24-hour economy) is true and it is working. Governor Waiguru can attest to it. May I say to all the delegates, welcome to Kakamega and feel free," he stated.
