Ruto announces changes on national holidays

President William Ruto has announced changes to the manner in which national holidays in Kenya will be celebrated going forward.

Speaking during the opening of the official opening of the Kenya Innovation Week at Sarit Expo Centre, Nairobi on Tuesday, December 6, the president announced the start of themed national holiday celebrations.

“I made the decision that all national holidays are going to be themed going forward,” the President indicated.

According to Ruto, the theme of Kenya Innovation Week truly captures the essence of his government in terms of increasing connectivity across the country.

“We have focused our Jamuhuri Day, our Independence Day because it is an important national day and we want to profile it as an Innovative Jamuhuri,” the President explained.

President Ruto indicated that the reason behind the theming of national holidays was informed by the fact that it is the space that makes sense to a majority of Kenyans.

When asked what Kenyans should look out for going forward, Ruto explained that beyond the celebration, the government is building the infrastructure to scale up and support startups.

“A startup bill will be taken to parliament in January so that we can have a startup fund to support innovation, and de-risk young people working on their innovation,” the Head of State revealed.

The president also indicated that the themed celebrations are not just about Jamhuri Day and Innovation Week.

“It is about the whole of government and the whole of society’s approach to doing things differently and recognizing the advantages that we have in the technology space,” he stated.

The Kenya Innovation Week is expected to run until Thursday, December 8.

The theme for this year’s event is “Connecting innovation locally.”