Outgoing President Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta declared four days of mourning during which the national flag be flown at half-mast for the same length of time at all High Commissions, Embassies, Consulates, Diplomatic Offices and other facilities of the Republic of Kenya abroad following the death of the British Queen Elizabeth II.
Uhuru said the period of mourning will start on Friday and end Monday evening, September 12, while disclosing that her majesty was a close friend of Kenya and the head of Commonwealth in which the country is a member of. He also noted that the longest serving monarch in British history took over from her father, King George VI, who died while on a journey to Kenya.
In his message of condolence to the new British Monarch King Charles III, the Royal Family, Prime Minister Liz Truss and the British people, the President described the 96 year old monarch as an unshakable rock of dedication to duty, grace, sacrifice and public service who expressed unrelenting commitment to God, nations, and family.
“In her 70-year reign covered the pre-independence era, the granting of self-governance, the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and all the other seminal events leading to the present day. In all that, as governments rose and fell, new nations were born, and the geopolitical sands shifted back and forth; Queen Elizabeth II remained our one constant.” Uhuru said.
“In honour of the life and times of the late Queen, and on behalf of a country that will forever hold Queen Elizabeth II in a special place in our individual and collective hearts; I, Uhuru Kenyatta do hereby order and direct that Kenya will observe a period of national mourning from today until sunset on Monday, 12th September, 2022,” he declared.
