President William Ruto is set to hold a crucial meeting with Mount Kenya leaders at Sagana State Lodge next week.
This will be the first time he visits the lodge since he ascended to power 11 months ago.
State lodges are places used by the President of Kenya for official and private functions.
They are a symbol of the power and prestige of the Kenyan government and are located in scenic and secluded areas.
Equipped with state-of-the-art security features, State lodges offer a variety of amenities, including swimming pools, tennis courts, and golf courses.
Besides Kisii, the others are in Eldoret, Kisumu and Kakamega, with the Sagana one being the most used.
Initially, Sagana was a royal residence of the British monarchy, considered among the gifts that Kenya had bestowed the late Queen Elizabeth following her wedding to Prince Philip.
However, when Kenya gained independence in December 1963, the late Queen handed the lodge back to the Kenyan government.
Sagana has had a rich history with Kenya’s last three Presidents.
Sagana State Lodge is said to have been ditched by the late President Daniel Moi in August 1982.
In his book, Seasons of Hope, the former Central Regional Commissioner David Musila, stated that the reason was that he had received intelligence that a section of the Kenya Air Force wanted to topple his government
Musila narrated how Moi made a last-minute cancellation of his stay at the lodge two days prior to the attempted coup.
Moi was set to open the Agricultural Show of Kenya (ASK) in Nyeri thus spending the night stay at Sagana state lodge.
However, Musila narrated in his book, Moi pulled him aside just as he was about to leave State House and told him of the change of plans.
“You should allow all the arrangements for the presidential visit at Sagana State Lodge to continue as planned. But do not tell anyone about my change of plans,” Moi said then.
After being elected as Moi’s successor, the late President Mwai Kibaki in 2003 spent Sh67 million to renovate the Sagana State Lodge.
However, unlike his successor Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta, Kibaki was not a frequent visitor in Sagana.
Perhaps this was because he considered it as ‘homeground’ having grown up in Nyeri.
Kibaki only used to visit the State facility whenever he had meetings with leaders from the Mt Kenya region.
However, the State Lodge went down in history as the place where Kibaki and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga met and furnished the initial list of cabinet ministers in the Coalition Government in 2008.
In the wake of the 2007-2008 post-election violence, the two camped at Sagana until they agreed to form government in a power-sharing deal.
It was in Sagana that Kibaki and Raila agreed to share 36 ministerial positions equally (18 on each side) and created two additional slots of Deputy Prime Minister which were held by Uhuru Kenyatta and Musalia Mudavadi, now Prime Cabinet Secretary.
Kibaki’s successor Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta made several trips to Sagana Lodge where he held cabinet meetings, hosted international leaders, family trips and consultative meetings with clergy and women leaders from Central Kenya at the facility.
In 2013, Uhuru hosted his then Somalia counterpart, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud who was in Kenya for a two-day visit
It was at Sagana State Lodge that the former Sports CS Amina Mohammed was sworn in as the Foreign Affairs boss on May 20, 2013.
In 2014, Uhuru and his family spent a quiet Christmas Day at the Sagana State Lodge in Nyeri.
In his last term as President, Uhuru held the famous Sagana meetings.
The meetings which were mostly political were used to discuss affairs within the Jubilee government and talks aimed at shaping the political direction of the Mt Kenya region.
All three meetings came after Uhuru fell out with his then-deputy William Ruto (now President).
Uhuru was then keen on directing the Mt Kenya region on a political path he deemed fit for the region.
It was in Sagana that Uhuru declared that former Prime Minister Raila Odinga was his preferred successor and asked Mt Kenya to rally behind him.