The burial of late former President Mwai Kibaki was done with military precision.
Since President Uhuru Kenyatta announced his death on Friday, April 22, the military took over key activities involving his burial arrangements and state honours.
The Lee funeral home in Nairobi, where his body was preserved, immediately became under the care of the military after his body was taken there.
This is largely due to his role as the former Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces during his 10-year tenure as head of state.
As ex-commander-in-Chief of Kenya's defence forces, Kibaki was regarded as a five-star general, the highest rank in the military.
Military officers of colonel rank were deployed as pallbearers and were led by a brigadier general.
Just like the second President of the Republic of Kenya, Daniel Arap Moi, the military was at the heart of Kibaki's final journey until the last minute, when his body was lowered into the grave.
But unlike Moi, whose body was flown to his Kabarak home, Kibaki's body was driven by road all the way to his Othaya home where he was laid to rest.
After the funeral service, held at the Othaya Approved school grounds, family members and selected dignitaries were allowed into the family compound where Kibaki was buried.
According to military tradition, at the burial site, the clergy took the lead and conducted prayers.
The military had the last post to signify the final farewell and symbolising the duty of the departed has come to an end and will therefore have a peaceful rest.
What followed was the national anthem which was deliberately played at a slow pace in all three stanzas.
A one-minute silence followed and everyone on-site observed it.
After the body was lowered into the grave, a 19-gun salute, which was aligned with military precision followed.
The gun salute was fired at intervals of five seconds each. Sitting heads of state get 21 gun salute.
Then followed a 3-aircraft flight past done by the Kenya airforce in honour of the late president.
The military then played the reveille to indicate the ceremony had come to an end.
The Reveille is a bugle call, trumpet call, drum, fife-and-drum or pipes call most often associated with the military and mostly used to wake military personnel at sunrise.
After the reveille, the family of the late president took over as they reverted back to the traditional ceremony.
As the funeral came to an end, the military remained behind for security purposes.
They were among the last people to leave the grave site.
