President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday, December 11, honoured the Prime Minister of Barbados, the home country of pop star Rihanna.
The Barbadian Prime Minister, Mia Amor Mottley, who's in Kenya for a state visit, was received at State House, Nairobi.
The Prime Minister was accorded a full state reception including a 19-gun salute and a guard of honour mounted by the Kenya Army.
Her visit came months after Uhuru visited Barbados on August 8, 2019, where he was accorded full state welcoming honours complete with a 21-gun salute.
The President, accompanied by First Lady Margaret Kenyatta, were received at the Grantley Adams International Airport in Bridgetown by Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley where the elaborate state reception took place.
The firing of 21 cannons was preceded by the national anthems of Kenya and Barbados before President Kenyatta inspected a guard of honour mounted by a detachment of the Barbados Defence Force.
Mottley got a 19-gun salute instead of the 21-gun-salute, the number of gun salutes accorded to leaders depends on the occasion or position of the visiting person.
The now honour-bestowing tradition borrowed from the US indicates that 19-gun salutes are reserved for the Prime Ministers, Vice Presidents, foreign deputy heads of state, and cabinet members.
On the other hand, a 21-gun salute is also rendered for foreign Heads of State and members of the reigning royal family.
