King Charles 111Visit, A Clear Confirmation That UK Monarch Recognizes Ruto Presidency

By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga

Worth Noting:

• Laying a wreath at the tomb of Unknown Soldier at the Garden is one of the activities lined up for King Charles 111 and his wife, Queen Camilla.
• I’m sure the King also remembers Kenya with nostalgia. Reason? His mother, Queen Elizabeth 11, became the Princess in 1952 while on a visit to Kenya. She was at the Treetop hotel in Nyeri when she received the sad news of the death of her father, the King. She was the one lined up to take up the throne.
• The King’s visit to Uhuru Garden is to be preceded by bilateral talks with his host President Ruto which will cover a wide range of issues including climate changes, youth and women empowerment, sustainable economic growth and development.

The United Kingdom Royal Couple is currently in Kenya for a four-day state visit.

To me, this is a great honor to President William Ruto and a confirmation by British Monarch they recognizes his presidency.

The visit comes just a few months after Dr Ruto invited the King to visit Kenya. Dr Ruto made this passionate call during his official visit in UK.

For starters, Kenya is among the 54 countries across the world that was under the colony of Britain.

Kenya goes down in the annals of history as the first Commonwealth country he visited after being crowned as the King and Camilla as the queen.

In the eve of this visit, President William left nothing to chance in terms of ensuring everything would go on as planned.

Besides chairing a meeting at State House Nairobi attended by the British High Commissioner to Kenya and top Embassy officials, he led a high powered team of Kenyan state officials in an inspection tour of Uhuru Gardens.

Laying a wreath at the tomb of Unknown Soldier at the Garden is one of the activities lined up for King Charles 111 and his wife, Queen Camilla.

I’m sure the King also remembers Kenya with nostalgia. Reason? His mother, Queen Elizabeth 11, became the Princess in 1952 while on a visit to Kenya. She was at the Treetop hotel in Nyeri when she received the sad news of the death of her father, the King. She was the one lined up to take up the throne.

The King’s visit to Uhuru Garden is to be preceded by bilateral talks with his host President Ruto which will cover a wide range of issues including climate changes, youth and women empowerment, sustainable economic growth and development.

The King is also scheduled to meet representatives of the youth, women, faiths and other  organized societal groupings.

The Royal Couple is also expected to visit Mombasa.

The Leaders of the Muslim community will receive them and thereafter hold talks with them at a famous Mosque located at Old Town area.

This Mosque was built during the colonial era and this is where Oman Arabs used to worship.

It is worth noting that during the scramble for Africa Kenya became one of the countries in Africa that fell into the hands of the British authorities.

Kenya first become their protectorate and later a colony. This occupation spanned between 1895 to 1963.

This leaves the King with no option but to respond to concerns raised mostly by human rights bodies, surviving Mau Mau freedom fighters and faith based organizations.

Apart from offering a direct and unconditional apology on behalf of British government, the groups expect the King to announce the plan they had put in place to compensate the victims. How long will this take?

Notably, this is not the first time that the victims are seeking compensation and reparations from the former colonial ruler.

Reports indicated that the UK had previously released thousands of pounds but the monies were diverted to line up pockets of top state officials and lawyers.

This happened during the reigns of founding President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and third President Mwai Kibaki.

Some historians argue that this could have been one of the reasons why JM Kariuki was assassinated.

He was the secretary of the funds the UK gave to compensate the Mau Mau fighters.

Reports indicated that JM was totally opposed to the diversion and stealing of these funds.

Remember he was assassinated when his popularity had gone up across the country.  He was touted as the successor of the ageing President Kenyatta.

He was then serving as a Member of Parliament for Nyandarua North.

Sources indicated that Kenyatta’s cabinet had been instructed not to play any role in JM’s burial preparations and barred from attending the funeral.

It is only former President Mwai Kibaki, then Minister for Economic Planning, who ignored the call and attended the burial.

In his speech, Kibaki stated. We will finally know who killed this great and visionary leader even it takes 100 years.

Reports indicated that Kibaki and JM Kariuki hailed from the same constituency of Othaya in Nyeri District.

The rumors doing round at the time indicated that Mwai Kibaki was immediately summoned to Kenyatta’s Ichaweri home in Gatundu and given a thorough beating. This was because of failing to heed Mzee Kenyatta’s call.

Later, during the Kibaki presidency, the Mau Mau fighters renewed the clamor for the British government to compensate them and offer apology for the atrocities the UK soldiers meted on them.

While being represented by a group of lawyers, they successfully filed a case before the Royal Court of London.

After hearing all the parties involved, the court ruled in favor of the fighters. The British government reportedly had no option but to obey the orders of the Royal Court.

Reports later indicated that most of surviving former fighters and siblings of the deceased ones did not receive the compensation. The lion share of the money was diverted, stolen to bankroll the pockets of the lawyers and ‘elitist freedom fighters’. This is as it happened during the Kenyatta’s era.

The current visit by King Charles seems to have opened a new chapter in Kenya’s history.

For the first time, I’m hearing the leaders of many communities in Kenya claiming that their sons and daughters also participated in the freedom struggles.

They are seeking reparations and want King Charles 111 to pay them on behalf of British government.

The earlier documented history suggested that it is only Kikuyus who fought the war of independence.  This calls for this history to be re-written. That is if their sentiments are factual. I leave it to the historians.

Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a writer and political analyst based in Nairobi

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About the Author

Joseph Mutua Ndonga

Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a Writer and Political Analyst based in Nairobi

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