MAUREEN WARUINGE ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST

10 September 2022

• Towett Ngetich was feted by Queen Elizabeth five years ago.

• Towett has written a message following the Queen's death

A Moi University student who had the once in a lifetime chance encounter with the late Queen Elizabeth II has mourned her death.

Towett Ngetich was 21 years old when he was honoured by Queen Elizabeth. He received the Queen's Young Leaders Award for 2017 during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in London

He jetted off to Britain and in a ceremony told of his joy at being in the famous home among those honoured.

Ngetich was honoured by the Queens Young Leaders for his fight against counterfeit medicines, through his organisation, Uthabiti.

He has since taken to his social media to mourn her death. Towett captioned a photo greeting her Majesty. "It was an honor, Farewell your Majesty, RIP, Queen Elizabeth II," he wrote.

At the time of his encounter, 60 youth from Commonwealth nations were invited to the prestigious Buckingham Palace on June 29 and awarded the Queens’ Young Leaders Award by Queen Elizabeth II herself.

Among them was Towett Ng’etich, a Bsc. Communications and Public Relations student at Moi University.

The Queen's Young Leaders Programme was launched at the time of her Diamond Jubilee and aims to discover, celebrate and support young people across the Commonwealth

Towett runs a startup called ‘Uthabiti’ (uthabiti.org), whose main aim is to fight counterfeit medicines and health products by creating access to safe medicines and health products to the crowded urban spaces population.

Towett reminisced about the experience of meeting the British Monarch saying,

“Never had I thought I’d stand before the greatest and oldest monarch, the Head of Commonwealth and Head of the United Kingdom - Her Majesty The Queen. I’ve never felt weak yet so strong, so small yet so big. Being recognized as a part of the youth who are driving positive change in their communities across the Commonwealth Countries was a humbling experience.”

Other Kenyans honored at the same ceremony were Chebet Lesan and Domitila Chesang.