As Kenya is celebrating Huduma Day , the National Youth Council has called upon citizens to embrace and appreciate each one’s culture at all times, with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry urging them to reflect on their relationship with mother nature.
Huduma Day is a national holiday in Kenya that aims at recognizing and celebrating the rich cultural diversity of Kenya in a manner that promotes unity, national cohesion and economic progress in the country.
The day is also being celebrated for the first time in Kenya after being renamed from Moi day.
Interior Ministry Cabinet Secretary Dr.Fred Matiang’i, made Monday October 11, 2021 a public holiday by virtue of the fact that Huduma Day falls October 10th which was on a Sunday.
The day, that was previously celebrated as Moi day, a day the parliament in 1987 declared a public holiday, to honour Daniel Arap Moi, who was the second and longest serving president of Kenya. For many years, this day was religiously celebrated every 10th of October in pomp and color.
According to a statement from the President’s Strategic Communication Unit, the renaming of the national holiday was in line with former President Daniel Arap Moi’s desire that the day should be commemorated as a day of service and volunteerism.
The first Huduma day was observed through national prayers that highlighted service and volunteerism to the community. Kenyans were encouraged to participate in the prayers and promote national unity, social justice, cohesion and sustainable development in their communities for the benefit of present and future generations.
Though Former President Moi died on February 4th 2020, at the age of 95, Most Kenyans still remember the celebrations that surrounded Moi Day
Moi Day was removed from the list of Kenya national holidays following the promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya in August 2010.
However, it was reinstated in 2017 following a court ruling by the Supreme court, which reversed the decision of the parliament. Justice George Odunga said the 2010 nullification of Moi Day was a contravention of Public Holidays Act.
Justice Odunga noted that if parliament was of the view that Moi Day ought not to continue being considered as a public holiday, they should have amended the Act accordingly.
Judge Odunga said Parliament had been wrong for not making amendments and forcing Kenyans to “toil on a day the law expressly directs to be a public holiday amounts to a violation of their rights unless the exception in section 5 of the Public Holiday Acts applies”.
Justice George Odunga did not specify how the holiday should be celebrated leaving the matter to Parliament and the Interior Cabinet Secretary.