President William Ruto was on Saturday, May 6, accorded a warm reception at the coronation of King Charles III at Westminster Abbey, United Kingdom.
Ruto arrived in the UK barely hours before the coronation and was received at Heathrow Airport by dignitaries from the Kenyan Embassy in London.
At the VIP lounge of Heathrow Airport, Ruto's security detail was immediately supplemented by the United Kingdom's Metropolitan Police Service's Specialist Protection Command.
Instead of being driven by a Kenyan Embassy car, Ruto was picked up by SO1, also known as the Close Protection Team, who drove him from the airport.
Close Protection Team is the same group of elite squads responsible for the UK Prime Minister's safety and the security of their immediate surroundings.
The Head of State was then driven in a black BMW to a five-star hotel where he was accorded a Presidential reception, from a bouquet from a young girl to meeting staff, believed to be from the Kenyan embassy.
King Charles III invited President Ruto to witness the coronation, nearly eight months after travelling to the UK to witness Queen Elizabeth II's funeral service in September 2022.
“At the invitation of the King, President Ruto will attend the historic event to be held at Westminster Abbey and presided over by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby,” State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohammed confirmed.
On Saturday, April 29, 2023, President William Ruto complained about the mistreatment of African presidents during foreign trips.
During the Mo Ibrahim Governance weekend held at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, Ruto lamented that they were loaded onto buses like school children at a past ceremony abroad.
President Ruto, Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu and other African leaders on September 20, 2022, rode in a bus to attend Queen Elizabeth II's state reception in the UK.
"It is not intelligent for 54 African Presidents to go and sit before one President from another country for a summit. Sometimes, we are mistreated. We are loaded onto buses like school kids. It is not right," Ruto told billionaire MP Ibrahim.
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