Monday, June 5, 2023 – Outgoing United Kingdom High Commissioner to Kenya Jane Marriott revealed a plot by former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s regime to retaliate against Britain after Kenya was red-listed during the pandemic.
Speaking during an interview, Marriott stated that England directed her to ban Kenyan flights from entering the UK following the growing cases of Covid-19.
She sought to mediate between the two governments and issued two requests to the British administration. One was that UK scientists video call Kenyan scientists to explain the phenomenon and for the announcement to be made after the Easter holidays.
Marriott noted that the UK government initially agreed to her plea but placed Kenya on the red list without following through with her requests.
“At first, they agreed but ultimately the UK government did not get me the scientists and made the announcement on a Good Friday,” she stated.
According to Marriott, the announcement caught her flatfooted as the Kenyan government also had an emergency meeting to deliberate on how to retaliate against Britain.
“On the following day, the Kenyan government plotted all the nasty things they could do to the UK. At the time, I wondered whether I could do this anymore. I was close to issuing my resignation notice,” she recalled.
While reacting to being added to the red list, Kenya argued that the decision was discriminatory, and punitive and threatened bilateral ties with the UK and security.
Kenya, in retaliation, ordered visitors originating from or transiting through UK airports to undergo a 14-day mandatory quarantine at a government facility at their own cost.
“The decision by the Government of the United Kingdom to ‘Red List’ Kenya and to stop all travel from Kenya for those residents in Kenya and those transiting through Kenya, to the United Kingdom has been received with regret and disappointment,” Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs then lamented.
The Kenyan DAILY POST.
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