Kisumu County on Thursday hosted a historic event when both the ruling and opposition sides met in the lakeside city and announced a new dawn in the nation's politics.
The iconic event saw both President Uhuru Kenyatta and his former arch rival and opposition leader Raila Odinga pledge their unity, after their divisive contest in the 2017 elections.
But this is not the first time the region is hosting such an iconic meeting as it did the same in 1961, a meeting that saw continental revolutionalists gather at the Kisumu Stadium.
Hosted by founding Vice President Oginga Odinga, the meeting was attended by Presidents Julius Nyerere (Tanzania), Kenneth Kaunda (Zambia) among others in the pursuit for the African liberation.
In 1969, Oginga again hosted the bloody meeting that culminated in the Kisumu Massacre, the chief guest was President Jomo Kenyatta.
The event saw the presidential guard shoot at the people, opposition supporters who reportedly charged towards the dais, in addition to booing and jeering the President.
It was the official opening of the Nyanza refferal hospital, funded by the Russian government, and would later lead to the arrest of Oginga and a section of his allies.
In 2001, President Daniel Moi and his Tanzanian counterpart Benjamin Mkapa trooped to the city as she celebrated her 100 years of existence, following her establishment in 1901.
It is in this year that Kisumu became a city, reports the Standard.