Kisumu is ready to host the 9th Africities Summit next year, the planning committee has assured.
Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa, who is leading the planning team, said they have identified hotels with 8,000-bed capacity to host the delegates.
He spoke on Monday in Kisumu during the groundbreaking ceremony for the Sh1.4 billion conference centre to host the event.
The conference centre, which is the second largest after the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, will be completed within eight months.
"We will be able to complete the project within the set deadlines. The contractor has been notified that there's no time to waste. We want the project delivered within strict deadlines," he said.
The CS said construction work is expected to be concluded by January next year in readiness for the official handover of the project by the planning committee in February.
Eugene said Africa expects a lot from the hosting country."Kenya is proud to host the event between April 26 and 30, 2022. This is the first time the event will be hosted outside the capital city of the hosting country," he said.
The CS said Kisumu was picked after intense lobbying in Morocco to be the first intermediary city to host the event.
"This will be an opportunity for Kenya to showcase the success of devolution in less than 10 years. We will have the opportunity to show the continent the importance of subcentral governments, which we have successfully rolled out," Eugene said.
The CS urged counties in the Lake Region Economic Bloc to work closely with the county government of Kisumu to ensure success of the event.
As part of the preparations for the forum, he said the government has committed hefty resources to improve infrastructure in the region.
He cited the expansion of Kisumu airport, road and rail transport and the refurbished port.
"The airport will see major improvements and changes ahead of the summit since most of the guests, both local and international, will use the facility," he said.
A road linking the airport and the conference venue will be built to ease the movement of delegates, Eugene said.
Devolution PS Julius Korir and Kisumu Governor Anyang' Nyong'o were present.
Korir said the conference theme, which is still under discussion, will be centred on economic activities important to the lake region.
"The expansion of road and railway networks and the port will boost Kisumu's capacity and position it as the regional economic hub and gateway to the international market," he said.
Nyong'o said the convention would greatly boost the economy of the lakeside City.
"We will take advantage of the convention to showcase the existing business and investment potential that LREB possesses," he said.
The Africities summit was set for November this year in Kisumu but was postponed until April 2022 due to Covid-19 concerns.
This is the second time Kenya is hosting the event. The first time it hosted the forum was in 2006 in Nairobi.
Edited by A.N