London, Thanasis Gavos

An official reception at the presidential residence in Nairobi this morning kicked off the first full day of King Charles and Queen Camilla’s five-day visit to Kenya, just weeks before the former British colony celebrates its 60th anniversary of independence.

The British monarch, who arrived in the country on Monday night, will hold talks with the African country’s President William Ruto, lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and inspect the Mugomo tree, a fig tree planted at the site of the declaration of the Kenyan independence in 1963.

The first day of the visit will conclude with a formal dinner, which will give Charles a first chance to address his toast about the “more painful” aspects of Britain’s colonial relationship with Kenya.

Commentators and activists in Africa, but also in Britain, have called on Charles to apologize for London’s brutal handling of the Mau-Mau rebellion in Kenya, alongside his stated mission of strengthening bilateral relations.

However, by making this trip on behalf of the British government the king is theoretically bound by London’s refusal to formally apologize for the atrocities committed. Britain’s recognition of these has taken the form of reparations of nearly £20 million.

Palace sources have said that Charles will approach this sensitive issue “with great diplomacy, humanity and humility”.

For about a decade from 1953 until Kenya’s independence, an estimated 90,000 Kenyans were executed and tortured during the British response to the Mau-Mau rebellion.

It is the king’s first official visit to a Commonwealth country and the third abroad after Germany and France.