President William Ruto is currently on a three-day trip to Italy. But whether to call it State visit or official Visit has been problematic for government officials.

State House said on Sunday the President was travelling to Rome for “an official visit to Italy”. But Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, also Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Cabinet Secretary, referred to it as a “three-day state visit” which he argued would “drive high-level engagements focused on strategic partnerships and agreements that strengthen economic cooperation and elevate Kenya’s global standing.”

Whether all those are achieved in the trip is not in question. And Italians haven’t written a diplomatic protest about the mislabelling. But diplomatic trivia such as a wrong seating arrangement, a missed phrase, an upside-down flag or even a wrong flag in the right place could spiral into a crisis.

State visit

There might be a thin line between state visits and official visits, but the biggest difference lies in the lavish ceremonies at hand, frequency and who actually is inviting the President. State visits are rare but highest level of a diplomatic visit conducted by the Head of State, in Kenya’s case, the President. In other countries, it may be monarch or emperors. These sovereigns must be invited formally by their counterpart head of state such as when King Charles visited Kenya in 2024, invited by President Ruto.

President William Ruto, Britain's King Charles III, First lady Rachel Ruto and Queen Camilla at State House on October 31.

Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo | Nation Media Group

In state visits, there can be full military honours such as guards of honour and a red carpet and there is often a state banquet. The visiting head of state can also visit grave sites of heroes in the host country to lay a wreath. This bit may also be in official visits (President Ruto lay a wreath at the Tomb of Unknown Soldier in Rome, for example) but the hosts were categorical that this was an official visit.

Official visit

As the name suggests, this is a formal trip by a senior government official, sometimes the President or prime minister on the invitation of someone lower than the head of state. President Ruto, the itinerary said, had been invited by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who is the head of government there. With less pomp, official visits are also more common. There is no limitation to number of times a state can invite a head of state for an official visit as there are usually immediate tasks to be undertaken such as some bilateral deals or negotiations even though they may also include official luncheons, dinners and press briefings.

Working visit

Sometimes heads of state undertake short-notice trips to discuss an emergency, controversy or clarify a misunderstanding. These are commonly known as working visits. They often omit the ceremonial bits are shorter in number of days and may not include press briefings.

Why it is important to know

These may be non-essentials. But Kenya has learnt lessons on how diplomatic sensibilities can be attached to ignored symbolism. In June 14, 2022, Kenya was forced to apologise after the flag of Somaliland was placed among those of diplomatic guests at State House during the final months of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s tenure. At the time, Somalia (which claims territory over Somaliland) walked out in protest. At the time, Kenya said the flag had been “inadvertently” included among those of official invited guests, even though a Somaliland representative was also a guest there.

In October, 2022, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez twice mistakenly referred to Kenya as Senegal while addressing a joint press briefing with President Ruto. Sánchez, on his first visit to Kenya, later apologised after being corrected by Ruto.

Whether deliberate or accidental, some countries take offence with symbolic misdeeds and could refuse to sign a deal. Others simply want the correct form of history recorded for posterity.

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