King Charles and Queen Camilla were guests of honour at a lavish state banquet, with both the King and President Ruto making powerful speeches. President Ruto has praised King Charles for his address during a state banquet in Kenya but asked for further reparations to be paid, something the British Government has previously ruled out.
The King delivered a short speech to the 350 guests, where he addressed the more painful aspects of the UK and Kenya’s shared history, but stopped short of an apology. The Kenyan President said: “If colonialism was brutal and atrocious to African people, colonial reaction to African struggles for sovereignty and self-rule was monstrous in its cruelty. It culminated in the Emergency, which intensified the worst excesses of colonial impunity and the indiscriminate victimization of Africans.”
“While there have been efforts to atone for the death, injury and suffering inflicted on Kenyan Africans by the colonial government, much remains to be done in order to achieve full reparations.” Earlier in the day the royal couple were given a ceremonial welcome at the State House in Nairobi by the President, His Excellency Dr William Ruto and the First Lady, Her Excellency Mrs Rachel Ruto.
On Tuesday morning, the President rolled out the red carpet for King Charles and Queen Camilla at the State House, complete with a red carpet and a 21-gun salute from the Kenyan navy. The royal couple then carried out a series of engagements in the Nairobi before arriving at the State House for the banquet tonight.
