Retired President Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi passed away on Tuesday, February 4, 2020. President Uhuru Kenyatta issued a presidential proclamation announcing the death of Kenya's second president.
Moi has been in and out of Nairobi Hospital in 2019, and reports stated that he had been admitted at the ICU.
His last wish to President Uhuru Kenyatta was to rename Moi Day, which the head of state honoured and changed it to Huduma Day on Thursday, December 19, 2019.
"Today's Cabinet meeting also approved the renaming of Moi Day which falls on 10th October as Huduma Day. This is in line with former President Daniel Arap Moi’s desire that the day be commemorated as a day of service and volunteerism," read a statement by PSCU on December 19, 2019.
On October 20, 2019, Moi's press secretary Lee Njiru also issued Moi's last message to Kenyans.
“Mzee Moi celebrated Mashujaa Day at his Kabarnet Gardens home in Nairobi with close family members and friends.
"He saluted heroes and heroines whose hard work, courage, patriotism and perseverance have had a great impact on the socio-economic wellbeing of the country and urged Kenyans to emulate them and contribute towards the prosperity of the country," Njiru stated.
There had been uncertainty about the celebration of Moi day after it was removed from the list of Kenyan national holidays after the promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya in August 2010.
It wasn't celebrated for several years until High Court Judge George Odunga, on November 8, 2017, restored it as a public holiday. In his ruling, he termed the scrapping as a contravention of the law.
On October 8, 2019, Interior CS Fred Matiang'i gazetted the holiday in line with the court ruling.
Matiang'i's statement read, "in line with the provisions of the Public Holidays Act (Cap 110, Laws of Kenya) and the decision of the court in Judicial Review No. 292 of 2017 (Republic v Cabinet Secretary for Internal Security Ex Parte G O Nyauchi and 4 Others) it is hereby confirmed that 10th October 2019 will be a public holiday."
