Nairobi, Kenya, April 30- Residents of Karatina waved white flags in honour of former President Mwai Kibaki’s cortege that was headed to his Othaya home for a State burial.
The cortege slowed down for about 5 minutes to enable the hundreds of Karatina residents lined up by the roadside wave white handkerchiefs as they bid farewell to Kibaki who died on Friday last week aged 90.
Kibaki was the third head of state in Kenya’s history, serving from December 2002 to April 2013 following the 24-year authoritarian regime of Daniel arap Moi.
Kibaki handed over to the current President Uhuru Kenyatta whose second and final term ends in August.
The cortege escorted by the military left the Lee Funeral Home in Nairobi at 7am.
The former president who served Kenya from 2002 to 2012 died on April 22 in what is attributed to sickness and old age.
Circumstances surrounding his death have not been made public officially, but his son Jimmy said last week that he had been ailing for several months, the past three months being the worst.
The late Kibaki was accorded a state burial with full military honours.
On Friday, a State funeral service was held in his honour at the Nyayo National Stadium attended by thousands, including three foreign heads of state-South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, South Sudanese President Salvar Kiir and Ethiopia’s Sahle-Work Zewde-and other dignitaries.
