From Moi Day to Utamaduni Day: What we should celebrate

Previously, the holiday was marked as Moi Day in honour of Kenya's second president Daniel Moi who ruled between 1978 and 2002.

After President Moi retired, the holiday was at the centre of a controversy which saw it scrapped altogether, following the promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya 2010.

The holiday, however, was brought back after a High Court ruling on November 6, 2017.

"I declare that unless and until Parliament amends Schedule 1 of the said Act (Public Holidays Act) or the minister substitutes the same for another date, the 10th of October in each year shall continue being a Public Holiday," Justice George Odunga ruled.

After the court reinstated the public holiday, the government did not specify how Kenyans should celebrate the day.

Despite being a public holiday of national significance, for the fifth year, there have not been any state or county events to mark the day. Each year, citizens are left to choose how to celebrate it on their own.

In the last two years, most Kenyans marked the day at their homes or in entertainment joints with family and friends.

"Owing to the elaborate celebrations lined up for all our heroes on Mashujaa Day (October 20), I make no pronouncement on the manner in which October 10 shall be celebrated," Matiang'i said.

In 2020, the Cabinet under former President Uhuru Kenyatta proposed that the holiday be renamed Huduma Day but MPs shot the proposal down and approved its renaming to Utamaduni Day.

Moi Day was gazetted as a holiday in the 80s to celebrate Moi's service and accomplishments since he became president in 1978.

For years, the day was celebrated with pomp and flare until Moi retired in 2002. Since then it was marked without national celebrations.

While many feel the day has lost its original intention, Matiang'i's directive are actually what the country's second president wished the day to be like when he initiated it.

During the first Moi Day celebrations, the then-president said it was a day to show others compassion.

"This is not a day for lavish celebrations. It is a day during which we remind ourselves of one basic tradition in our society-compassion, a tradition that we must uphold and perpetuate," said Moi.

He emphasised the need to uphold national values.

Gitile Naituli, a professor of Management and Leadership, says that there is need to have a structured way of celebrating the day.

"We celebrate our diversity but very little is done to reflect on the content of our humanity. Most Kenyans have little as the few rich continue to amass more wealth irregularly," said Naituli.

Political analyst Prof Herman Manyora echoes the sentiments regretting that the day has lost its meaning among Kenyans despite the noble course its initiators wanted it to be.

"Originally, it was meant to be a day for the less fortunate in society. Our lost culture of compassion had it removed from the calendar only for citizens to move to court and have it reinstated," said Manyora.