Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i, has addressed claims of Thursday, November 4, being a public holiday to mark Diwali Celebrations, which is observed by Hindu faithful.
Through a report shared on the Ministry of Interior's official social media platforms on Wednesday, November 3, the government denied declaring it a public holiday.
The CS went on to term a Gazette Notice making rounds on different social media platforms as fake declaring Thursday as a public holiday.
"The Government has not declared a public holiday on Thursday, November 4, 2021. The purported gazette notice declaring a holiday is fake!" their communication read.
Diwali is also known as the festival of the lights. It is an important occasion marked by Hindus across the world.
In Kenya, Diwali has not yet been gazetted as a public holiday. However, Kenyan Hindus are allowed to mark this day by taking a day off from work and school to observe the important festival.
While marking Diwali, most Hindus light lanterns and engage in bountiful and limitless celebrations.
The celebrations are characterized by bursting of firecrackers across different parts of the country.
Government issues notice guiding on how they are supposed to crack the fires and also stipulate hours so that they cause minimum disruptions to the rest of the people.
Most Kenyans were hoping that Matiang'i would declare it a public holiday making them fall victims of the fake gazette notice.
