Mwathethe plays President as army rehearse for Kenyatta inauguration

Preparations are in high gear at the Kasarani Stadium, Nairobi for the inauguration ceremony of President-elect Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday, November 28.

Disciplined forces have camped at the 60,000-seater stadium going through the choreography that will be executed. Mock parades are also being conducted to ensure that the forces are in near-perfect condition come inauguration day.

As they can only access the main man on Tuesday, Chief of Defence Forces Samson Mwathethe is the one playing the president-elect and even inspected the makeshift guard of honor to ensure all runs smoothly.

After the guard of honor, an officer then took an “oath of office and allegiance to the country”, nothing is left to chance when it comes to ensuring that the event is as flawless as humanly possible.

Another officer was Deputy President-elect William Ruto stand-in during the rehearsals and even took Mr. Ruto’s oath of office with all the seriousness that the real exercise deserves. Thereafter the historical 21 gun salute was done.

Close to 100,000 visitors and 20 head of states expected

Immediately after the Supreme Court upheld President Kenyatta’s October 26 repeat election win, the Assumption of Office Committee started the necessary preparations.

Close to 100,000 visitors are expected to grace the ceremony; with the committee exuding confidence that the 60,000 people will be hosted in the stadium, while 40,000 others to be accommodated in different places within the precincts of the facility like the Kasarani Gymnasium.

Sources also reveal that security will be paramount throughout the event as close to 20 head of states are expected to jet in the country.

Previous swearing-in ceremonies

In April 9 2013, outgoing President Mwai Kibaki handed over the “sword of power” to Kenyatta but this time round, the latter will be handed the instruments of power by Chief of Defence Forces Samson Mwathethe.

This will be the 8^th swearing-in in Kenya after Jomo Kenyatta (1964), Daniel Arap Moi (1978, 1992, and 1997), Mwai Kibaki (2002, 2007) and now Uhuru Kenyatta (2013, 2017).