Princess Anne on 3rd October awarded Miss Prudencia Paul Kimiti an MBE for her dedicated services to diversity.
This award was announced earlier in 2022 during Queen Elizabeth II 70th Jubilee celebrations. MBE which stands for Member of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is usually awarded to individuals for their outstanding achievement or service to community.
Prudencia Paul Kimiti was born in Rukwa region in Tanzania. She is a daughter of former prominent politician Paul Kimiti who held various positions including Regional Commissioner, Member of Parliament for the ruling party CCM and Ministerial roles in Tanzanian government between 1980 and 2010.
Prudencia’s 83 year old father travelled from Tanzania with his wife to attend the ceremony. ‘ It is exciting because it is not easy for a person like me to get into Windsor Castle, you have to have a special reason, said Paul then added, ‘When we heard of the award we decided to come all this way’.
Describing the moments in the Castle he said ‘ when she was called in we were invited to follow. Only four of us were allowed and as we entered I could see my daughter talking to Princess Anne.
‘ Even as a child she wanted to make sure there was fairness for everyone regardless. I remember when in primary school she would ask, Daddy why aren’t the other children getting the privileges that we are getting. I was Commissioner for the Government but she would say ‘no we should all get the same, we are all human beings. I don’t see the reason, I am not different from the girls I am working with’.
‘ So when I heard of the award I wasn’t surprised as I knew that she was a daughter that wanted to work for others’.
Miss Kimiti who currently resides in Cardiff, Wales United Kingdom, works as the Head of Investigation for the HMRC, which is the UK authority responsible for collecting and managing most taxes in the UK. Furthermore, Miss Kimiti is a human rights activist particularly in racial rights and diversity.
MBE awards are honours that are awarded twice a year by His Majesty the King with a list including Knights and Dames, Orders of British Empire, gallantry and bravery awards.
In 2020, Miss Kimiti was among three people tasked with training Revenue officials in three African countries including Tanzania, Namibia and Madagascar.
Speaking after the receiving the award, Miss Prudencia Kimiti said “this is a great award and with immense gratitude and respect bestowed to me and my family upon receiving the award, I am very proud of this recognition as an individual and for my country United Republic of Tanzania. I feels lucky and honoured to be nominated by the Queen Elizabeth II to receive this award, I am very thankful”.
The outgoing Tanzania Ambassador to the UK Dr. Asha-Rose Migiro congratulated Miss Prudencia Kimiti and added that winning that award is a result of hard work, excellence, integrity and discipline in Miss Kimiti’s remarkable work.
Though only four people were allowed inside Windsor Castle for the ceremony there was a gathering of family and friends outside waiting for Prudencia to leave the ceremony.
Cousin, Justina John said, ‘ I thought of all the Royal weddings and ceremonies that have happened in London but this was our person. When I went looking for my outfit I wanted people to ask why I was buying special clothes just so I could answer, because my cousin from Tanzania is receiving an MBE at Windsor Castle. Even Pru has said ‘ this is for all of us’
Justina added,’ it has lifted the hearts and given our nation respect’.
Another cousin Magdalena Kimiti was also in London and saw a different side to the day and what could have been a disaster. She explained, ‘ I was outside waiting for her to come out as we were all so proud of her. The morning was chaos and she had to be on time so we had to get the make up finished and dressing on time. Thankfully she was on time. It was funny as Pru was texting me while she was inside so I knew everything. She even told me what number she was and when she was on her way out’.
But guess what, she lost her MBE. We went back to the hotel so she could retouch her make-up before the reception so went to the bathroom and when we left she came to me and said she had lost the medal. We were all looking, even the hotel staff were running up and down and I said to her where were you the last place you went, and she said the toilet so we went and it was there. Oh my goodness you should have seen us, so much relief but it was ok then and we went to the reception for a good time. We even arranged a red carpet. An amazing and beautiful day……history
Pru emphasised her feelings on the day and the medal episode, ‘Wow what a day, I didn’t sleep well but with so much love and support especially my mum and dad coming from Tanzania. Everybody was so welcoming. Princess Anne, oh bless her she was absolutely amazing. The way she talks to me was as if she knows who I was. She asked so many questions and thanked me for my hard work and we had a laugh. It was like I was walking on cloud nine. She said Pru can you come and work for me, I said when can I start I am going to hand over my P45 next day and I am off and we started giggling. Princess Anne was amazing. But when asked about the missing MBE she screamed with laughter ‘ Oh my gosh we were staying close I couldn’t remember what I had had done and I asked everybody imagine the first thing I did was lose the thing I had just gone to get’.
Close friend for 20 years MC Victoria for the day said, ‘ the day was fantastic Pru was like a princess and with the night full of African music it was very much celebration all night long.
The final question went to father Paul, ‘Did you buy a new suit for the occasion?, He answered with a giant smile ‘ yes I had too, I had to because this is a very special occasion, you just can’t come with the old suits, they are out of date, you also have to be very modern so when you come you have to look and feel the part to make my daughter proud as we are proud of her. The smile turned to laughter which really summed up the whole day,
