The fact that Monday, October 10, is a public holiday in Kenya is beyond dispute, but the name of the holiday has continued to elicit debate and confusion among Kenyans whether it would be marked as Utamaduni Day or Huduma Day.
In his notice, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i urged Kenyans to honour the day by celebrating the rich cultural diversity and firmly called it Utamaduni Day.
However, in the communication, there was no indication of whether any national celebrations had been organised to mark the day as usually is with other national holidays in the country.
“In line with Section 2 (1) and 4 and Part One of the Schedule of Public Holidays Act (Cap 110), and pursuant to the declaration of the High Court of 6th November 2017 (Judicial Review 292 of 2017: Republic vs Cabinet Secretary for Internal Security ex parte Gragory Oriaro Nyauchi & four others), it is hereby notified that Monday, October 10, 2022, will be a public holiday (Utamaduni Day)
“All citizens are reminded to honour the day by recognizing and celebrating the rich cultural diversity of Kenya in a manner that promotes our unity, national cohesion, and economic progress,” read the Gazette notice in part
According to the Public Holidays Act, there is no holiday called Huduma Day in Kenya.
The confusion over whether it is Huduma or Utamaduni Day stems from a Cabinet decision in December 2019 to rename Moi Day to Huduma Day and Boxing Day to Utamaduni Day but that was never gazetted.
This was in keeping with former President Daniel Arap Moi’s desire for the day to be recognized as a day of service and volunteerism.
At the time, the state had also sought to name Boxing Day, which falls on December 26, as Utamaduni Day to celebrate Kenya’s rich culture.
The plans were, however, quickly scrapped upon realisation that according to global laws, an internationally recognised holiday could not be renamed by a specific country.
The state then re-arranged the celebrations to have Utamaduni Day fall on October 10 and erased Huduma Day from its calendar. In 2019, Utamaduni Day was celebrated on December 26 but was switched to October 10 in 2020 onwards.
Unlike other Kenyan National Holidays that are marked by a national event, Kenyans are always left to create private activities to mark Utamaduni Day.
This will be Kenya’s second Utamaduni Day celebrations.
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