Govt begins preparations for Jamhuri Day celebrations

The government has begun preparations for the upcoming Jamhuri Day celebrations on December 12, 2024.

In a statement on Wednesday, December 4, 2024, Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Interior and National Administration Raymond Omollo said the preparations were underway at the Uhuru Gardens along Lang’ata Road.

“Led members of the National Celebrations Committee for an inspection tour of the Uhuru Gardens, Nairobi, in anticipation of this year’s Jamhuri Day celebrations,” Omollo said.

The national celebrations committee consists of PS Interior Raymond Omollo and senior officers of the Kenya Defence Forces, among others.

Low turn-out

The 2023 Jamhuri Day celebrations registered significantly low turnouts in regions allied to the opposition coalition parties in the country.

In Mombasa County, Governor Abdulswamad Nassir skipped the ceremony, opting to attend a parallel one at the Mombasa Remand Prison (Jela Baridi), where together with Kisauni MP Rashid Bedzimba and more than 20 members of the County Assembly, raised bail for 18 people at the facility.

President William Ruto, however, presided over the ceremony which occurred at the Uhuru Gardens where he inspected a guard of honour mounted by the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF).

The celebrations were attended by other dignitaries including the former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and his spouse Pastor Dorcas Rigathi.

During the celebrations, the Tanzania president who was expected at the venue failed to show up, instead opting to send Zanzibar’s president Ali Mwinyi to represent her.

This was after flash floods swept huge swathes of Manyara in Northern Tanzania, resulting in the death of more than 89 people, with at least 5,600 others being displaced.