President Uhuru Kenyatta has sent a congratulatory message to Her Excellency President Dame Sandra Mason, Prime Minister Mia Amor Motley and the People of the new Republic of Barbados.
Barbados became a republic today in an auspicious occasion, replacing the British monarch as its head of state and severing its last remaining colonial bonds nearly 400 years.
“President Uhuru Kenyatta has sent a congratulatory message to Her President Dame Sandra Mason, Prime Minister Mia Amor Motley and the People of the new Republic of Barbados on the auspicious occasion of the country’s transition to a Republic today, 30th November 2021,” stated State House.
In his message of goodwill, Kenyatta affirmed Kenya’s readiness to continue partnering with the new Republic of Barbados in advancing Pan-Africanism saying the transition was a testament of the strong resolve by the Barbadian people to chart their own destiny.
At the same time, Kenyatta congratulated Her Excellency Dame Sandra Mason on her assumption of the high office of President of the Republic of Barbados and wished her success as she steers the new Republic into a future of prosperity.
Mason was sworn in as the president during the midnight event that coincided with the country’s 55th anniversary of independence.
At the strike of midnight, the new republic was born to cheers of hundreds of people lining Chamberlain Bridge in the capital, Bridgetown.
A 21-gun salute fired as the national anthem of Barbados was played over a crowded Heroes Square.
Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, stood somberly as Queen Elizabeth’s royal standard was lowered and the new Barbados declared, a step which republicans hope will spur discussion of similar proposals in other former British colonies that have the Queen as their sovereign.
“We the people must give Republic Barbados its spirit and its substance,” Sandra Mason, the island’s first president, said. “We must shape its future. We are each other’s and our nation’s keepers. We the people are Barbados.”
In a message to the new president, the 95-year-old queen sent her congratulations to Barbadians who she said have held a special place in her heart.
“I send you and all Barbadians my warmest good wishes for your happiness, peace and prosperity in the future,” she said.