Ruto heads back to the UK after ‘being mistreated’ during his last visit
President William Ruto is headed back to the United Kingdom on an official visit, days after complaining about African leaders being mistreated when attending foreign events. According to a statement from his office, President Ruto will join other world leaders at the coronation of King Charles III on Saturday, May 6, 2023.
“At the invitation of the King, President Ruto will attend the historic event to be held at the West Minister Abbey and presided over by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby,” the statement reads in part.
The coronation ceremony will see His Majesty King Charles III crowned alongside The Queen Consort, Camilla.
In a statement from The Royal Palace, the coronation will reflect the monarch’s role today and look towards the future, while being rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry.
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Following the coronation, the President will then fly to Netherlands where he will meet with His Majesty King Willem- Alexander for a series of bilateral talks.
The trip to the United Kingdom comes after President Ruto complained on April 30, 2023, about how African leaders are mistreated when meeting with other world leaders. He highlighted the inequality in treatment between African Heads of State and other world leaders.
“We have made the decision that it is not intelligent for 54 of us to go and sit before one gentleman from another place… sometimes we are mistreated, we are loaded into buses like school children, and it is not right,” said President Ruto.
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His return to the United Kingdom succeeds his prior visit when he was there to attend the late Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral. African Heads of State were limited to only bringing their spouses or one other assistant, and were ferried to the funeral service location in buses unlike the American President Joe Biden who arrived with his full motorcade.
On that occasion, the British government is reported to have requested that Presidents attending the Queen’s funeral use commercial flights and arrive by coach to ease the strain on London’s airports.
This was because the British government feared that there would be gridlock on the roads around the Abbey, Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace necessitated deploying buses.
Over 2,000 dignitaries attended the funeral and thousands more are expected to attend the coronation tomorrow.