By Anderson Ojwang
Kisumu Governor Prof Peter Anyang Nyong’o will vie for the presidency of the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLGA).
Nyong’o, who is currently the Vice President of the Eastern Africa region, is likely to be re-elected to the seat unopposed in today’s elections in Kisumu.
Nyong’o is seeking re-election as the Vice President of the region and is optimistic of winning the presidency.
Nyong’o will face opponents from South Africa while North Africa will be seeking re-election for the presidential seat.
Chief of Staff Mr Aloyce Ager said the East Africa region is currently meeting in Kisumu and includes 14 countries from the region namely Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, Madagascar, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Sudan.
He said the continent is divided into five regions namely Eastern Africa, West Africa, North Africa, South Africa and Central Africa.
He said the General Assembly is slated for March 22nd to 25th in Nouakchott, Mauritania and will discuss various issues and elections will be part of the agenda.
He said UCLGA is the umbrella body of local governments and cities, representing a membership of 320M Africans.
The body is run on the mirror image of the African Union (AU) government and has five regions with distinct leadership structures.
The structures start from the grassroots and move to the region, with each region referred to as a caucus.
“Before the General Assembly, the caucus convenes to discuss issues of the region and elect leaders from the region, who will seek leadership at the General Assembly,” he said.
He said people elected in this caucus will be eligible for election at the continental level.
The five Vice Presidents sit in the conclave to elect the President. The regions’ caucus hold elections every three years.
“It is at the General Assembly where major decisions of the organisation are canvassed. It is run through a Secretariat located in Rabat, Morocco,” he said.
The Executive Committee has the Vice Presidents as members.
In 2018, Kisumu lobbied to host the 2022 AFRI Cities, the 9th edition, a milestone in the development and growth of Kisumu City and put it on the world map.
