October 24, 2023
King Charles and Queen Camilla on Tuesday welcomed members of the UK-Kenyan community to Buckingham Palace ahead of next week’s state visit to the country.
King Charles has faced calls to apologize for colonial-era atrocities in Kenya when he visits the country later this month.
Buckingham Palace said Charles and his wife Queen Camilla will visit the East African nation from October 31 to November 3, his first trip to a Commonwealth country since becoming king last year, and his fourth official visit to Kenya.
"If he is not coming to apologise for the atrocities they did to us then he should not come," 53-year-old accountant John Otieno said.
Buckingham Palace said the visit was aimed at celebrating the "warm relationship" between the two countries as Kenya prepares to mark the 60th anniversary of independence from Britain in December.
It said the trip would also "acknowledge the more painful aspects of the UK and Kenya´s shared history including the Emergency" in 1952-1960, a reference to bloody rebellions against colonial rule.
"His Majesty will take time during the visit to deepen his understanding of the wrongs suffered in this period by the people of Kenya," the palace said.