Why Kibaki will receive 19-gun salute and not 21

The late former President Mwai Kibaki will be accorded 19 gun salutes after the last post.

This is because at his death Kibaki, was not a sitting president as he had long retired.

According to Major General Daniel Wanyonyi, while a head of state who is also the Commander-in-chief of the armed forces receives 21 gun salutes, former presidents get 19 gun salutes.

He however explained that presidents who die out of the office can also get a 21- gun salute if the sitting president orders that they are buried in full millitary uniform for their terms served as Commander-in-Chief.

Kibaki will receive a State funeral with full millitary honours, the third of its kind in the country. He'll be buried in his home in Othaya, Nyeri County.

His predecessors Daniel arap Moi in 2020 and Mzee Jomo Kenyatta in 1978 are the only Kenyans who have received such a send-off in the country.

Just like Kibaki, Moi got a 19-gun salute during his Burial in Kabarak.

Mzee Jomo Kenyatta’s send-off, on the other hand, was marked with a 21-gun salute.

A State funeral is a public ceremony observing strict rules of protocol held to honour Heads of State or other people of national significance.

To qualify for a State funeral, one has to be a sitting or retired Head of State, or Chief of Defense Forces.

Besides Kenyatta, Moi and now Kibaki, there are three other Kenyan non-presidents who were also accorded State funerals, but without military honours.

The three are former Vice President Kijana Wamalwa, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai, and former First Lady Lucy Kibaki.

Any other person, such as in the case of Maathai, Wamalwa, and Mama Lucy, however, has to have the State send-off authorized by the Defence Council.