Hon. Gladys Wanga, Governor of Homa Bay County, hosted the Devolution Conference 2025 in Homa Bay, attended by President William Ruto and Raila Odinga. The forum, themed “For the People, For Prosperity: Devolution as a Catalyst for Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice”, marks 12 years of Kenya’s devolution journey. The conference brought together stakeholders from government, the private sector, academia, and development partners to strengthen the promise of devolution.

In August 2022, Wanga made history by becoming the first woman to be elected as the governor of Homa Bay County. In 2020, she was appointed Chair of the Finance and National Planning Committee of the Kenya National Assembly, the first woman to hold that position in Kenya. In 2018, she served as Secretary to the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Central Management Committee.

During the lead-up to the 2017 general election, she led the Nyanza presidential campaign team for then-Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga.

 From 2013 to 2017, she served as a Commissioner in the Parliamentary Service Commission, becoming the first woman Commissioner from Nyanza Region. In 2015, she was elected ODM’s Chairperson for Homa Bay County, a position no woman had previously contested. In 2013, she became the first Woman Representative for Homa Bay County and was re-elected unopposed in 2017. She began her political career in 2003 when she was elected as the first female Secretary-General of the Students’ Union at Kenyatta University.

The governor is among the key founders who led the Embrace Kenya movement to promote the Building Bridges Initiative and the Handshake between Uhuru Kenyatta and Odinga. She served as a project manager at the Trust for African Rock Art and later at Liverpool VCT Health for 10 years.

Wanga was born on March 7, 1981, to John Nyasuna, a prominent politician and former long-serving councillor and chairperson in the now-defunct Kisumu County Council, and Grace Olum, a dedicated businesswoman. She attended Kisumu Girls’ High School and holds a Master of Science and a Bachelor of Science in Health Management from Kenyatta University.