While Pres­i­dent Chris­tine Kan­ga­loo’s con­fer­ral with the Or­der of the Re­pub­lic of Trinidad and To­ba­go (ORTT) on Wednes­day left many baf­fled, it is a cus­tom­ary prac­tice for pres­i­dents that is less known.

The Of­fice of the Pres­i­dent is­sued a state­ment on Thurs­day night say­ing, “In a sim­ple cer­e­mo­ny at Pres­i­dent’s House yes­ter­day… The O R.T T., this coun­try’s high­est Na­tion­al Award, was pre­sent­ed to Her Ex­cel­len­cy by the Ho­n­ourable the Chief Jus­tice Mr. Jus­tice Ivor Archie O.R.T.T.”

It added that the Chief Jus­tice ex­plained dur­ing the cer­e­mo­ny that the Pres­i­dent of the Re­pub­lic re­ceives this award by con­ven­tion and by virtue of be­ing the Chan­cel­lor of the Dis­tin­guished So­ci­ety of Trinidad and To­ba­go, the Or­der to which all Na­tion­al Award re­cip­i­ents be­long.

Prime Min­is­ter Dr Kei­th Row­ley as well as Pres­i­dent Kan­ga­loo’s hus­band, Ker­wyn Gar­cia, were al­so in at­ten­dance at the cer­e­mo­ny.

How­ev­er, ques­tions as to how the new Head of State could re­ceive this ho­n­our less than two weeks in of­fice were im­me­di­ate­ly raised in some quar­ters fol­low­ing the an­nounce­ment.

Speak­ing to Guardian Me­dia yes­ter­day in a bid to clear up the mis­con­cep­tion that has al­so flood­ed so­cial me­dia since Pres­i­dent Kan­ga­loo re­ceived the award, a for­mer pro­to­col of­fi­cer at­tached to the Of­fice of the Pres­i­dent, who wished not to be named, as­sured it was stan­dard pro­ce­dure that the Pres­i­dent re­ceives the ORTT.

“She can­not be Chan­cel­lor of the Dis­tin­guished So­ci­ety of T&T and not have the award her­self. It goes way back. Sir El­lis Clarke had the Trin­i­ty Cross. Mr (Noor) Has­sanali had the Trin­i­ty Cross and so the hold­er of the high­est of­fice in the land will have it be­cause as Chan­cel­lor of the Dis­tin­guished So­ci­ety, it’s au­to­mat­ic as Head of State,” the source told us.

It added that the Chief Jus­tice ex­plained dur­ing the cer­e­mo­ny that the Pres­i­dent of the Re­pub­lic re­ceives this award by con­ven­tion and by virtue of be­ing the Chan­cel­lor of the Dis­tin­guished So­ci­ety of Trinidad and To­ba­go, the Or­der to which all Na­tion­al Award re­cip­i­ents be­long.

Prime Min­is­ter Dr Kei­th Row­ley as well as Pres­i­dent Kan­ga­loo’s hus­band, Ker­wyn Gar­cia, were al­so in at­ten­dance at the cer­e­mo­ny.

How­ev­er, ques­tions as to how the new Head of State could re­ceive this ho­n­our less than two weeks in of­fice were im­me­di­ate­ly raised in some quar­ters fol­low­ing the an­nounce­ment.

Speak­ing to Guardian Me­dia yes­ter­day in a bid to clear up the mis­con­cep­tion that has al­so flood­ed so­cial me­dia since Pres­i­dent Kan­ga­loo re­ceived the award, a for­mer pro­to­col of­fi­cer at­tached to the Of­fice of the Pres­i­dent, who wished not to be named, as­sured it was stan­dard pro­ce­dure that the Pres­i­dent re­ceives the ORTT.

“She can­not be Chan­cel­lor of the Dis­tin­guished So­ci­ety of T&T and not have the award her­self. It goes way back. Sir El­lis Clarke had the Trin­i­ty Cross. Mr (Noor) Has­sanali had the Trin­i­ty Cross and so the hold­er of the high­est of­fice in the land will have it be­cause as Chan­cel­lor of the Dis­tin­guished So­ci­ety, it’s au­to­mat­ic as Head of State,” the source told us.