Uhuru’s number plate incident ‘was a mistake’ not military protocol

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Sunday left many puzzled when he arrived at Harambee House for the coronavirus state of the nation address in a car that had the number plates fixed upside down.

The number plate incident immediately degenerated into a matter of speculation, with all manner of explanations being put across.

The most curious, however, was the claim that the number plate had been deliberately fixed upside down and that it was part of military protocol followed when the Head of State is about to deliver “bad news” to the country.

A source privy to the incident has, however, dismissed that explanation, describing the incident as “a sheer mistake” saying there is nowhere in the military protocol code where it talks about inversion of number plates.

Speaking to Citizen Digital, the source, who declined to be named over sensitivity of the matter, said someone did not do their job well and is probably having “a long day.”

“This was not a military procedure, it was a sheer mistake because if that was the case, then the plates on the back would have also been upside down but they were right side up,” he said adding that there is no precedence of this happening anywhere in the world.

A quick search can show why many thought it was an ominous sign. There is an unconfirmed story about flying a US flag upside down as “a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.”

This however, does not translate to number plates.