SHAME: Kenyans call out President Ruto's team for flying the Kenyan flag upside down, again

On his second day of the trip to the world's second-biggest economy, Ruto's digital team shared several photos showing the President in the company of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) President and Board of Directors Chairman Jin Liqun and other bank officials.

Keen Kenyans, however, did not fail to note that, while the President was enjoying a chat with Mr. Liqun, the table arrangement was a little off - the Kenyan flag was shamelessly placed upside down.

The Kenyan flag should be flown with Black on top and Green at the bottom. The shocking negligence saw Green being on top.

The national faux pas, happening when Kenya appears to be on a desperate international wooing spree, failed to impress a majority of Kenyans who called out the President's handlers for the obvious blunder, many viewing it as a harbinger of gloom to come.

Veteran journalist Ali Manzu was one of the first people to notice the slip-up, taking to his X account to comment, "Mr President @WilliamsRuto our flag is upside down. Kindly next time check, it’s the second time this is happening..."

Other people who interacted with Manzu's tweet sought to correct him, reminding him that the blunder had actually happened three times now.

"No, it's three times now. And despite the constant corrections, they still never seem to care," someone commented.

Journalist Mwangi Maina also added his two cents, wondering what, exactly, was the role of protocol during such high-level trips.

He said; "The Kenyan flag is a powerful symbol of patriotism and national pride. It should never be displayed upside down under any circumstances. However, there have been notable lapses in flag protocol during important international events." 

"This occurred in Djibouti during the IGAD summit with President Ruto present. It happened again in Kampala on the sidelines of the NAM summit with Mudavadi in attendance. And now, it has occurred yet again in China during a presidential meeting."

He added, "What exactly is the protocol team doing during these trips? Are we sending a message of distress?" 

Agreeing with him, Grace Kitheka said, "Maybe this is indicative of the kind of country Ruto is running right now... A country which has its priorities upside down. Schools, hospitals, universities are all grounded. But a Chinese loan is what we need most!"

Mwangi Maina went on, "As a visiting delegation, it’s essential to keep your antennas up and be vigilant about every detail. If the host doesn't catch an issue, it's your responsibility to notice and demand protocol be followed correctly."

"A flag is a symbol of national unity—unless, of course, the president is running the country upside down. That’s the metaphorical impression I get."

At the IGAD meeting in Djibouti, the full-length Kenyan flag - not the tiny ones placed on tables - also appeared upside down as President Ruto sat just a metre away, soaked in a conversation with leaders.

And back in January in Uganda, as Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi was engaging his Tanzanian counterpart January  Makamba, the flag was, yet again, placed upside down.

Even locally, the shame still abounds. At the Jamhuri Day celebrations in December 2022, Governor Kawira Mwangaza's administration flagrantly draped the Kenyan flag upside down, imperfectly around the podium.

Even after being called out on all of the embarrassing occasions, none of the Kenyan leaders involved in these trips - or even the President himself - has ever bothered to explain the anomaly or even apologise for the mortifying gaffes.

Public Relations expert Bernard Aloo said, "Kenya's protocol teams really making a mockery of the Kenyan flag. Third time having the flag upside down in an international event is no longer just a small slip-up, it's a major breach. Next time a host confuses our flag with South Sudan, I'm pretty sure it'll go unnoticed!"

Back in May, US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito faced intense backlash for raising the US flag outside his home - upside down.

In January 2021, the upside-down American flag became a banner for Donald Trump’s effort to block the peaceful transfer of power.

Violent insurrectionists carried the US flag - upside down - into the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Eleven days later, Justice Samuel Alito flew the insurrectionists’ flag outside his Virginia home.

And in June, after a jury found Donald Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, some Republicans aligned with him turned the U.S. flag upside down, including Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

The U.S. flag code states: “The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.”

While it's increasingly being used as a symbol of protest and dissatisfaction in the US, it's not quite clear what the upside-down Kenyan flag may mean.

On a superficial level, it is indicative of the carelessness, the recklessness and the staggering unseriousness with which the government of Kenya handles it's business - both locally and internationally.

Many Kenyans also feel that the President and the men around him, in their usual fashion, have been paying very little attention to the actual plight of the troubled people they lead - and a little fabric is, really, the least of their worries.