Kenyans divided over 10th October holiday. Is it utamaduni or huduma day?
11th October, 2022
“Happy Huduma Day,” read a post in a WhatsApp group yesterday. Shortly after, another message came in “Happy Utamaduni Day.” This left group members confused and an argument ensued.
“So what day are we celebrating?” someone posed. Some said it was Huduma Day while others maintained it was Utamaduni Day.
Clearly, there was no consensus on the holiday that was being celebrated despite an earlier gazette notice issued by Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i that the country would be marking Utamaduni Day.
The confusion was evident among many people, First Lady Rachel Ruto sent out a message via her social media pages wishing Kenyans a happy Huduma Day.
Some citizens called for the scrapping of the holiday, saying it had lost meaning.
The initial holiday, Moi Day, was scrapped following the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution.
“There was no need of renaming the holiday. We were used to Moi Day as a public holiday, this name ought to have been maintained in remembrance of the second President Daniel arap Moi,” said Douglas Mbiti, a hawker at Green Park Nairobi.
