The first President of the Republic of Kenya Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and the second President Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi have gone down in history as the two Kenyan Heads of State who wrote using green pens in all their official documents.
The colour came to be associated with the top seat and it was mentioned several times during parliamentary debates to connote the sovereign power of the President.
This practice originated with Mzee Kenyatta after his stay in Britain and the first document he wrote using the green ink was a note to his lawyer after he was arrested in 1952.
The country's founding father is also reported to have used the same ink to cancel the names of his two allies Mbiyu Koinange and Arthur Wanyoike from the parliamentary report on the murder of former powerful MP, the late J. M. Kariuki.
His successor, President Moi continued the tradition to the extent that writing in green ink during the 'Nyayo Era' was tantamount to pretending to be the President.
Historians speculate that State House adopted the colour because it stood out and would easily differentiate an original document and a forgery or a photocopy.
Another country that has adopted the colour for official state communications is India.
In 2007, the nation was thrown into an 18-month-long power struggle within the government after officials in one ministry used green instead of red.
