King Charles presented a number of medals to one of the world’s oldest surviving Second World War veterans in Kenya on day two of the royal state visit.
The monarch handed five medals to former corporal Samweli Mburia, during a poignant ceremony where other old soldiers who fought for Britain against Hitler’s regime also received replacements of their military honours.
Mr Mburia is thought to be 117-years-old, possibly one of the oldest men in the world.
Commenting on Mr Mburia’s longevity, the King said: “I think you must have been living on wild honey and locusts.”
Mr Mburia surrendered his military honours, as did many other Kenyans, during the Mau Mau rebellion in the 1950s – an anticolonial movement opposing British rule in Kenya that was later suppressed by British authorities.
Kenyan military personnel who fought with the allies in World War Two got rid of their medals during the period in fear of being accused as British collaborators.
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Mr Mburia’s daughter Idah Kagweni, 54, said her father’s medals were lost and described the mood among Kenya’s ex-military as the struggle to end British rule became violent.
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She said: “They were fearful to be found with those medals because of the Mau Mau. During that time some of them threw them in the sea or they hid them and don’t know where they hid them.”
The veteran, speaking through his daughter, said: “I am so happy and proud to be receiving my medals from the King.”
The King thanked Mr Mburia saying: “I hope all the right ones are there”, at the presentation ceremony held at a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in Nairobi.
The 74-year-old monarch stumbled on some loose fake turf while visiting the graves but quickly recovered his balance.
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The royal couple also took the time to visit animal sanctuaries celebrating Kenyans who advocate for animal welfare and environmental conservation.
Queen Camilla was pictured feeding milk to a baby elephant at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust’s elephant orphanage, which has successfully raised 316 orphans.
She was also seen giving food to a donkey at Brooke Donkey Sanctuary in the capital.
On Tuesday, the King said there was “no excuse” for “abhorrent and unjustifiable acts of violence” committed by the British against Kenyans, particularly during the Mau Mau uprising.
Atrocities were committed on both sides, but the Mau Mau insurgents suffered significant mistreatment.
Ninety thousand Kenyans were murdered, tortured or maimed, with many held in detention camps.
Ahead of his visit, there had been renewed calls for the King to make a formal apology from the Kenyan Human Rights Commission, who requested an “unequivocal public apology”, and from those whose relatives suffered abuse.
