Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has gazetted new additional state lodges in the country.
The newly recognised state lodges will provide accommodation to the president whenever he is touring various parts of the country.
In a gazette notice, CS Murkomen elevated the official residences of the Bungoma and Kwale County Commissioners to state lodges.
This means any head of state, including President William Ruto, can now host official duties in Bungoma and Kwale. The two will be controlled by the State House Comptroller’s office, ensuring the head of state is accorded the required hospitality when holding meetings in the two counties.
“It is notified for the general information of the public that the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration declares the Bungoma County Commissioner and Kwale County Commissioner’s official residences as State Lodges,” the notice published in the Kenya Gazette notice dated Thursday, April 17, 2025, read in part.
In the notice, the two state lodges were officially recognised on February 6, 2025, but gazetted on Thursday, April 17, 2025.
Other state lodges
The two will add to the other existing state lodges distributed in nine counties, which include Kakamega, Kisumu, Kisii, Eldoret, Makueni, Kilifi, and Nyeri, among others.
The State Houses are mainly three: one in Nairobi, one in Mombasa, and one in Nakuru.
Sagana State Lodge
Sagana State Lodge is among the most historical premises in the country, besides the three known state houses. The Sagana State Lodge is located deep in the heart of the Central Kenya region, a few kilometres from the Mt Kenya forest.
It is mostly made of natural, rough, aged timber coated with a dark brown colour on the outside. Initially, Sagana was a royal residence of the British monarchy, considered among the gifts that Kenya had bestowed on 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. 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.
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta also held high level meetings in Sagana, followed by his successor William Ruto, who used it during his vast Mt Kenya region tour.