The Kaunda suit has become a choice attire for African celebrities, elders and politicians in recent years, including one particularly high-profile convert — Kenya’s president, William Ruto.
A single-breasted safari jacket with short or long sleeves and patch pockets — often worn with matching pants — it was initially made popular in the 1960s by Kenneth Kaunda, the first post-colonial president of Zambia.
But the Kaunda suit was banned from the Kenyan Parliament this week, along with other forms of traditional African dress and tightly-fitted clothing for women. The Kenyan speaker of Parliament decreed that such attire violates the parliamentary dress code — which largely conforms to a modern Western working wardrobe.
A fashion trend like the Kaunda suit “does not accord with the seriousness of the proceedings of the house and its committees,” Moses Wetangula, the speaker of the Parliament, said in a speech on Tuesday.
Proper dress for men entering the parliamentary chambers, he said, is “a coat, collar, tie, long-sleeved shirt, long trousers, socks and shoes or service uniform.”
The move prompted an outcry on social media, with many asking why proudly African attire would be outlawed in an African government building in favor of the suits and ties associated with colonial powers.
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