NAIROBI: When President Uhuru Kenyatta opened the Devolution Conference in Kisumu last week, all the elected leaders in the county were introduced to the audience by the host governor Jack Raguma. The only exception was Ruth Odinga, the deputy governor. While this act of omission led to a hue and cry as expected, it only reinforced the feeling by many that deputy governors are just there, as flower girls, if you like.
Whereas the underlying tiff between the governor and his deputy is public knowledge, no one expected that it would come out in such a national forum.