Thursday, October 31, 2024 – President William Ruto has promised to give
Kenyans another holiday this Friday.
This is after he vowed to
gazette Diwali as a public holiday for Kenyans to enjoy.
Speaking during Diwali
celebrations at State House in Nairobi, the Head of State announced that he
will be sponsoring a bill to make November 1 of every year a national holiday
to celebrate Diwali, a Hindu ceremony.
He noted that the proposal must
first undergo the requisite legislative process before it officially becomes a
national holiday.
Ruto revealed that he would hold
a conversation with the Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetangula to
ensure the proposal is passed before the next Diwali ceremony in November 2025.
“I have heard your request on
the issue of us having Diwali as a national holiday. I will subject it to the
government process, the speaker is here,” Ruto remarked.
“If it has to happen, it has to
go through Parliament but I want to assure you that we will have decided by the
next Diwali,” Ruto added.
Ruto was forced to clarify the
matter moments after Speaker Wetangula pledged to ensure that a bill fronted
before parliament to formally make Diwali a national holiday was seamlessly
passed by members of the National Assembly.
“Your Excellency, if
you decide to give them (the Hindu community) a holiday, I will put the
question very quickly in parliament,” Wetangula told Ruto.
Ruto’s latest pronouncement
comes against the backdrop of the much-anticipated Hindu ceremony with most
Kenyans calling on the government to gazette Friday, November 1, a national
holiday.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
