British High Commission Kenya celebrates HM The Queen's 90th Birthday
Speech by the British High Commissioner to Kenya at The Queen's 90th Birthday Party
Waheshimiwa, Mabibi na mabwana, Habari za jioni. Ni furaha yangu kuwakaribisha kwenye sherehe hii ya Kuzaliwa kwa Malkia!
It’s my great pleasure to welcome you all here this evening to celebrate the 90th birthday of Her Majesty the Queen.
In her nine decades, Queen Elizabeth has witnessed great turmoil and great change. The world of 2016 is in many ways unrecognisably different from that of 1926. Yet the Queen’s leadership has not only helped us through the tough years; it has helped us also to make sense of the arc of history which binds those years together.
Nowhere is that more true than here in Kenya.
The Queen’s connection with this blessed and beautiful country is deep. Kenya holds a very special place in her heart. It was of course here, in February of 1952, that she heard the sad news of her father the King’s death. With that news, a Princess became a Queen.
I am deeply honoured to have as my guest this evening Mr Nahashon Muriithi, who served Princess Elizabeth during that visit in 1952. Mzee, we are so pleased to be sharing this celebration with you.
Much has changed in the 64 years of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, since the day that Mzee helped her settle into the Treetops Hotel. The bonds of Empire have given way to the partnership of the Commonwealth. Kenya has become not just a proud and independent nation, but one of this continent’s biggest success stories and a global hub for innovation.
Yet the UK and Kenya remain part of and shaped by each other’s stories and experiences as nations. Our history has woven between us a fabric of deep connection – exemplified and encompassed in Her Majesty’s own life, but part of the lives of each one of us here this evening and of many millions more.
This may flow from our past, but that is not the most important point. What matters even more is that our deep connections shape our present and our future.
The United Kingdom is safer and more prosperous when Kenya is so. Our fight against extremism and insecurity is a shared one; so too our work to create jobs and opportunity for our people.
We stand today as two vibrant, modern countries, crucial to the success of our respective regions. We are each home to some of the most innovative businesses, some of the best research and education institutions, some of the hardest-working and most entrepreneurial people in our continents and indeed the world.
Our success as nations is already intertwined. But we can do so much more together – in business and trade, investment and development, on the security of this region and in the fight against terrorism and extremism, in education and tourism – in every area which matters to the concerns and the aspirations of our people.
I am resolved to use my time as High Commissioner here to draw on and strengthen the connections between us, not just in the interests of the Government I serve but for the benefit of wananchi in both our countries. There is so much more we can do together, and I pledge to foster and support that in every way I can.
Let us not though talk too much business tonight. It’s a time for celebration, as we mark the 90th birthday of a remarkable monarch with such strong ties to this remarkable country.
Let me thank our Gold sponsors for their contribution to this celebration: Flamingo Horticulture; Kenya Breweries Limited; Seaforth Shipping; and Standard Chartered Bank;
And our Silver sponsors Barclays Bank; Balton CP; G4S; HRG Travel; Prudential Plc; and Tullow Oil.
Let me thank also everyone who has been involved in organising and supporting this evening.
May God Bless Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth on her 90th Birthday. May He bless our two countries as we celebrate together and as we resolve together to tackle the many challenges ahead of us. Let me ask you to join me in toasting the President and People of the Republic of Kenya.