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Bank and Public Holidays for Kenya

A preview of the Kenya bank holidays, national holidays and public holidays for 2023, from the Q++ Worldwide Public Holidays Database, the professional source of international public holidays long trusted by the world's foremost diary publishers.

The information on this page is provided for private, non-professional, use. To access our full database of worldwide public holidays and bank holidays, under license, for the full years 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and beyond, please contact us.

 © 1989-2019 Alter Ego Services

08 Oct 2018 Kenya Declares October 10 Public Holiday (The Nation-Nairobi) Kenya's Interior Cabinet Secretary, Fred Matiang'i, has announced that the government of Kenya had declared Wednesday, October 10, 2018, as a public holiday, even as his Interior ministry was in the process of making proposals to Parliament for a comprehensive review of the Public Holidays Act, Cap 110. • 01 Oct 2018 Kenya October 10 Moi Public Holiday Uncertain (The Nation-Nairobi) Uncertainty abounds in Kenya about the status of the upcoming Moi Day, as Kenya's Interior Minister, Fred Matiang’i, has not yet announced whether October 10, 2018, would be a non-working public holiday, or not, in Kenya. • 17 Aug 2018 Kenya 2018 Idd-ul-Adha Public Holiday (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation-Nairobi) Kenya's Interior Minister, Fred Matiang’i, has released a special Gazette Notice declaring next Tuesday, August 21, 2018, a public holiday to mark Idd-ul-Azha. • 12 Jun 2018 Kenyan 2018 Idd Ul Fitr Public Holiday (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation-Nairobi) In a gazette notice the Kenyan Government's Interior Cabinet Secretary, Fred Matiangi, has signed a notice announcing that, pursuant to section 3 of the Public Holidays Act of Kenya, the date of the annual non-working public holiday for the upcoming Idd-Ul-Fitr (End of Ramadan) in Kenya would be Friday, June 15, 2018. • 02 Jun 2018 Kenya Reiterates Idd Ul Fitr Date Rules (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation-Nairobi) The head of media at Jamia Mosque, Nairobi, Abu Ayman Abusufian, has confirmed that the hands of the Chief Kadhi are tied as pertains to the annual date of the Idd Ul Fitr non-working public holiday of Kenya, whose calculation is clearly spelled-out in the Kenyan Public Holidays Act. • 23 Nov 2017 Kenya Public Holiday November 28 (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation-Nairobi) Kenya's acting Interior Cabinet Secretary, Fred Matiang'i, has announced that the government of Kenya had declared Tuesday, November 28, 2017, as a public holiday to allow for the swearing-in of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto for the second term in office. • 09 Nov 2017 Kenya Restores October 10 Moi Public Holiday (The Nation-Nairobi) Judge George Odunga of Kenya's High Court has ruled that the omission of Moi Day, on October 10, as a public holiday in Kenya, since 2010, was "an illegality and a contravention of the Public Holidays Act" and that "unless and until Parliament amends Schedule 1 of the said Act or the minister substitutes the same for another date, the 10th of October in each year shall continue being a Public Holiday". • 24 Oct 2017 Kenya Extends Electoral Public Holidays (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation-Nairobi) The government of Kenya has extended the public holidays on account of the upcoming general elections, by also declaring Wednesday, October 25, 2017, as a one-off non-working public holiday in Kenya ("In exercise of powers conferred by section 3 of the Public Holidays Act, declares that Wednesday, the 25th October, 2017 be a public holiday to accord Kenyans the opportunity to participate in the Fresh Presidential Election"). • 19 Oct 2017 Kenyan Public Holiday October 26 (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation-Nairobi) Following on the heels of the recent decision by Kenya‘s election commission to move the upcoming general elections re-vote ordered by the Supreme Court, from Tuesday, October 17, 2017, to Thursday, October 26, 2017, acting Interior Cabinet Secretary, Fred Matiang'i, has gazetted Thursday, October 26, 2017, as a non-working public holiday in Kenya, "to allow Kenyans to vote in the repeat presidential election". • 04 Sep 2017 Kenyan Public Holiday Expected October 17 (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation-Nairobi) Kenya‘s election commission has set Tuesday, October 17, 2017, as the date for the general elections re-vote ordered by the Supreme Court when it annulled the August 8, 2017, poll won by President Uhuru Kenyatta. • More News Updates For the full version of the summarized news items above, and older news items not displayed above, go to the Kenya public holidays news and updates page, or worldwide public holidays news and updates page, or subscribe to one of our free email newsletters.

Governing Law: Official public holidays in Kenya are regulated by Chapter 110 of the Laws of Kenya, the Public Holidays Act (An Act of Parliament to make provision for public holidays) as amended by law N°47 of 1952, law N°604 of 1963 (section 3), law N°34 of 1964, law N°124 of1964, law N°21 of 1966, law N°190 of 1971 (1st schedule), law N°2 of 1984 (sections 3 and 4), law N°9 of 1990, and law N°10 of 1997, and most recently by Article 9-3 of the 2010 constitution. • Weekend Public Holidays are covered by sections 3 & 4 of the Public Holidays Act, which only applies to holidays listed in section 1 of Schedule 1 of the Public Holidays Act. Holidays listed in sections 2 and 3 of that schedule remain on their set date, regarless of the day of the week. • Muslim holidays, only Eid al Fitr (the End of Ramadan) is an official public holiday. Other Muslim festivals may be celebrated by the Muslim community only. • Diwali: Section 2-3 of the Holidays Act specifies that persons of the Hindu faith are entitled to take Diwali as a paid public holiday. • Kenya International Codes KE and KEN (2 and 3-letter ISO3166 codes) and .ke (ICANN national top-level internet domain). • Other Sources of Information The following specialized websites are also a good source of Kenya information and news: Central Bank of Kenya (Kenya central bank), UnitedHealthcare Global (security-related world events: terrorist threats, political strife, strikes, criminal activity, aviation incidents and health outbreaks), CIA World Factbook (Kenya maps, demographics and economic statistics), the IFES (information covering upcoming elections, referenda, electoral structures and voter participation in Kenya), and Wikipedia (includes Kenya commemorative dates that are not necessarily public holidays).

Observance : Any entry in the Observance column indicates that, in Kenya, the holiday may be regional or non-official or limited to certain religious and/or linguistic groups, or begin at a time other than midnight. Note that religious holidays are included only if they are national public holidays, or if the national labour code has specific holiday allowances for employees of specific religions.

Religious Holidays : Public holidays in Kenya that are based on certain religious calendars may be subject to local variations due to differing interpretations between different religious authorities, or to seemingly arbitrary changes in the date a holiday is celebrated because it conflicts with another holiday that is based on another calendar, or because the day of the holiday is deemed inauspicious (bad luck). To find out more about these uncertainties, see the footnote below, if any, for each specific religion.

Muslim Holidays : Muslim bank holidays, legal holidays and public holidays for Kenya were evaluated using the Umm al-Qura Calendar of Saudi Arabia which is used in Saudi Arabia and in most of the Persian Gulf States. Holidays may occur a day later in countries outside the Gulf region. The sunrises, sunsets, moon phases, moonrises and moonsets used in these calculations are based on the location of Mecca (latitude 21.42°N, longitude, 39.82°E, GMT+3 hours, no summer time rules).

Hindu Calendar Public Holidays : For Kenya, when calculating the date of bank holidays, legal holidays and public holidays based on the Hindu Lunar calendar, if the date is expunged (ie. does not occur), then we use the following existing date of the Hindu Lunar calendar. Local practice concerning expunged days may vary regionally as described in many sources, including the 1998 book The Indian Calendric System by G.K. Chatterjee.

Disclaimer
In many parts of the world, holidays are subject to arbitrary, last minute, changes by local authorities. While every effort has been made to present an accurate list of 2023 bank holidays, legal holidays and public holidays for Kenya, we cannot accept any responsibility for any error or omission in the data presented above. You are therefore advised to verify the above dates with the embassy or consulate of Kenya, before planning any trip to Kenya. For last-minute updates to worldwide public holidays, visit our worldwide public holidays news and updates page or subscribe to our free email newsletters.

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