Dutch King Willem-Alexander, during his official visit to Kenya, revealed that he once worked for the Kenyan government as a pilot for the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), assisting in the fight against poachers.
Speaking at a special state banquet hosted in his honour alongside Queen Máxima on Tuesday, the King surprised attendees with an anecdote about his connection to Africa, and Kenya in particular.
“My love for Africa was instilled in me at a young age by my father, who spent ten years of his childhood in what was then Tanganyika (now Tanzania). I personally became familiar with this part of Africa, and Kenya in particular, in the 1980s and 1990s,” the King stated.
“First as a pilot for AMREF Flying Doctors and later as a pilot for the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), where my work included protecting elephants from poachers in Meru National Park,” he added.
The King went on to further astonish the audience by revealing his pilot’s licence number, adding that, in an ironic twist, he obtained a Kenyan license rather than a Dutch one.
“If I think back, the only pilot’s licence I ever had was not a Dutch licence but a Kenyan one. The number was Y2294-PL, issued to me by Gladys, who had an office on the first floor, first office on the left, in 1989,” he recounted.
The King and his wife arrived in the country for an official three-day state visit, which commenced on Tuesday, March 18. During the widely discussed visit, he was expected to oversee the signing of key bilateral agreements between the two countries and take part in a tree-planting initiative.
Further, King Willem was also set to meet Kenyan youth to discuss matters on governance and accountability of the government. During his first official address at the onset of his visit, the King stressed to President William Ruto the need to respect the rights of Kenyans and maintain good governance
“The people of Kenya want their rights as free citizens to be respected and their voices to be heard,” King Willem stated.
“I am pleased that our countries’ strong and mature relationship allows us to devote attention during this visit to issues like human rights, good governance, and accountability. We are grateful to have the opportunity to discuss the concerns that exist in these areas,” he added.
The King’s three-day official visit had been marred by controversy after numerous Kenyans both in Kenya and in the Netherlands filed petitions and provided signatures seeking the postponement or outright cancelling of his visit.
The impending visit was further compounded after a section of Dutch Members of Parliament raised concerns over the timing of his visit to Kenya.
Even so, the two members of Dutch royalty proceeded with their visit and have so far managed to accomplish the items listed on their itinerary.
