Lawyer Gragory Nyauchi revealed the reasons why he petitioned to have Moi Day reinstated as a holiday. The lawyer, who runs Nyauchi and Company Advocates in Nairobi, argued that former President Daniel Moi deserved to have a day named after him similar to the one accorded to the first President of Kenya Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.
“One of these laws is the Public Holidays Act that Parliament amended during Moi’s time to give him his day.”
“An Act that recognises Moi Day not as a national day but as a public holiday, an important distinction that means the Public Holidays Act does not, in fact, contravene the Constitution,” stated Nyauchi.
He further explained that the 2010 Constitution allowed the laws that existed before its adoption to continue as long as they did not oppose the constitution. The 31-year-old pointed out that the other reason he wanted the day back was for the sake of workers in the country who are never given off days.
“We live in a country where only a tiny minority are granted the 21 leave days that the Employment Act provides for. Most people get up and go to work every day except weekends. In a country with a negative attitude towards workers’ rights such as the one displayed by most of our employers, a public holiday is a necessity,” remarked the lawyer.
The graduate from the University of Nairobi School of Law highlighted that the responsibility to amend the Public Holiday Act was delegated to parliament who had the option to either rename the day or remove it.
“Our parliamentarians have had 11 months to consider whether or not to undertake this action and have not done so.
“This means either that they believe the day should be observed in its current form in honour of our second president or that they could not be bothered to do the work necessary to amend the Act,” stated Nyauchi.