The good, bad and ugly of colourful Jamhuri Day fete

The military band clad in neat ceremonial regalia, stood in straight lines, their shoes gleaming, their hands by their sides and their serious eyes focused on the man of the day. Their Commander-in-Chief, President Uhuru Kenyatta.

But nothing could have prepared the disciplined military men for what happened next—not even the hours they had spent in drills for the D-Day, drills which were supposed to guarantee perfect execution with, well, military precision.

A section of military planes perform a fly past. (PHOTO: WILLIS AWANDU/ STANDARD)

When the parade was done, the commander, with his sword – the military symbol of power—went to ask for permission to have it dismissed. He lifted the sword up, kissed it once. Then he lifted it again, then a senior soldier’s worst nightmare. The sword fell.

This happened so quickly it was not easy for a roving eye to capture. Unfortunately, it was in front of another head of state, Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf who had graced the occasion. But it was not only the parade commander who had a bad day.

A camera man from a local television station fell from the mounted podium to what may be described as ‘heat stroke’. Lucky for his case, medics from St John ambulance moved in quickly to salvage the situation.

When it came to entertainment, the Maroon Commandoes and the military bands kept on passing the mantle to each other, probably in a bid to buy time waiting for the sparsely populated stadium to fill up with both dignitaries and the common citizens.

By the time the President made his way to the statdium, The Maroon Commandoes had sang their hit song Charonyi ni Wasi four or five times. Enter Rosy Ohon with her hit Eshe Baba, a thanksgiving song. The versatile Kidum then performed with Namba Moja while Joseph Wakabura sang Marurumi.

A helicopter bearing congratulatory message for Kenya at 52 years of independence. (PHOTO: 

WILLIS AWANDU/ STANDARD)

One notable character was that of a man dressed in a baboon suit with mini Kenyan flags plugged all over his attire making many wonder why he was not the one collapsing out of heat stroke.