The Ambassador of Italy to Kenya, Roberto Natali, awarded four honours of Cavaliere della Stella d'Italia for 2024 to four compatriots who have distinguished themselves 'in promoting relations of friendship and cooperation between Italy and other countries and in fostering ties with Italy,' as stated in the motivation for the title, granted by the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, at the proposal of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
This year three female figures were honoured who, in their respective fields, have contributed to improving Italy's image in Kenya, fostering integration and cooperation, and promoting Italian products and more. This is Monia Posti, an Umbrian businesswoman who has been in Kenya for more than thirty years, and who was the first to introduce 'Made in Italy' in the country's large-scale retail trade, creating the 'Queen Deli' brand of excellence, which in addition to high-quality imported products, produces dairy products, sauces sauces, dressings and other delicacies, by Anna Leali, a white art professional who many remember as a young woman opening the first artisan gelato parlour in Watamu and later conceiving 'Non solo Gelato' and taking off commercially in true Nairobi, opening several 'sweet' outlets in the name of Italian quality.

The third woman comes from a totally different experience, but equally well rooted and represented in Kenya: that of the Catholic missionaries. Sister Loredana Serena, mother superior of the Cottolengo congregation in Nairobi, has always been in the front line in assisting the most vulnerable Kenyans, with particular attention to HIV patients, since 1990.  
Together with them, an athlete was also awarded, the Brescian athletics coach, Claudio Berardelli, who, after moving to Eldoret, dedicated himself to training the great cross-country runners from that area, "being able to count in his stable numerous African runners who have distinguished themselves in Olympic competitions world championships and in the world's most prestigious marathons,' as the motivation, read by the Italian government's Undersecretary for the Environment and Energy Security, Claudio Barbaro, in Kenya as part of the EIA's ninth global conference on energy security. Barbaro has a background as a sports executive and for this reason, too, he was invited by Natali to award Berardelli.