Covid-19: Devolution conference to lock out unvaccinated delegates
CoG vice-chairman James Ongwae (right) during a media briefing on August 12, 2021. He said only vaccinated delegates will be allowed to attend the 7th Annual Devolution Conference in Makueni.
The Council of Governors (CoG) has said that only delegates who have received the Covid-19 jab will be allowed to attend the Seventh Annual Devolution Conference which will be held in Makueni County.
The decision was announced by Governor James Ongwae, the CoG vice-chairman.
He said the group made the decision to ensure the meeting set for August 23 to August 26 is safe for delegates.
“The conference will be a controlled meeting and only 1,000 delegates who are all vaccinated will be allowed in,” he said on Thursday.
Online-only registration
To ensure that Health ministry protocols are followed, CoG has resolved to have a strict online-only registration process, which will close on August 17.
“To actualise this, the CoG in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Makueni County has rolled out a massive vaccination drive. Currently, there is an ongoing vaccination drive at CoG offices to ensure that all registered delegates are fully vaccinated,” Governor Ongwae said.
The conference will also adopt a hybrid approach – a combination of virtual and in-person attendance.
The decision followed a multi-agency consultative meeting on Wednesday between CoG, the Ministry of Devolution and the Ministry of Health.
Increase hospital beds
The Makueni County government, which is hosting the key meeting, will also increase its ICU and HDU bed capacity for emergency support.
The theme of this year’s meeting is “Multi-level governance for climate change”, and will mark the last of the annual devolution conferences.
As part of the precursors to the meeting, CoG has embarked on a tree-planting initiative that has been going on in Makueni, Machakos, Kitui, Embu and Kajiado counties. CoG said 1,999,999 trees have been planted. President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to plant the two millionth tree.
The committee is also setting up a devolution forest and erecting a monument, which CoG says will be a historical monument marking the final annual devolution conference.
“This will be a symbol to signify unity, strength and prosperity of devolution,” Governor Ongwae said, adding that it is at the devolution conference that the President will grow the two millionth tree.
