On 15th March 2020, President Uhuru Kenyatta arrived at Harambee House to give a press statement on the Coronavirus pandemic, in a car whose front number plate was inverted.
Kenyans online tried to give explanations as to why the number plate had been fixed like that. Two reasons, which have been widely shared, as you can see below:
Reasons Why Uhuru drove in a vehicle with an Upside Down Number plate.
-It's a Standard procedure, When the Presidential vehicle has no flag.
-It's a Standard procedure,
Indicating that the head of state is not carrying good news.
Don't criticise everything!!#coronaviruskenya pic.twitter.com/L4m4fLf0rF— Captain Dominic Omondi. (@CaptainDominicO) March 16, 2020
Whenever this happens,it simply means that the president isn't carrying good news and the direction of the Nation isn't good,i first saw the number plate of the President’s car inverted in Turkey when Turkish government was almost getting overthrown.Hope i helped you all learn 😇 https://t.co/rsSs8r2En2
— 𝙲𝚈𝙼𝙾𝙷™ 🌬 ❁ (@ProfCymOhAFC) March 15, 2020
The same reasons have been cited as possible explanations in news articles by The Kenyan Report, Kenya Bulletin and Star News.
Background
Kenya confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on March 13, 2020, with two more cases being confirmed by the president on the 15th at Harambee House, where he gave orders on how the country will proceed in order to control the spread of the virus.
The front number plate of the vehicle he arrived in had the plate number as H086 MƆʞ instead of KCW 980H. Was this a mistake or was it fixed that way deliberately?
An official state car is a vehicle used by the government to transport the President in his official capacity as the Head of State and the government of Kenya. The President of the Republic of Kenya has several official cars and any one of them is used to transport him to and from any place he desires to visit.
Verification
A source that spoke to Citizen TV’s digital news platform on the incident has dismissed it as a ‘sheer mistake’.
There is no military protocol in Kenya that requires the Presidents’ car to have an inverted number plate when the president is bearing bad news or when the vehicle has no flag.
Verdict
Any meaning attached to the inverted number plate on President Uhuru’s car, as has been circulating online since the President’s presser, should be treated as FALSE.
Add comment