On the 41st Anniversary, Uhuru Announces End of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta’s Public Commemoration

President Uhuru has announced the end of public commemoration of the death of Kenya’s founding president, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.

Speaking during the 41st memorial service at All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi on Thursday, Uhuru said this would be the last public memorial of the late Mzee Kenyatta.

“As president, I have consulted the family of the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and we have agreed that this is going to be the last celebration of Mzee in this manner, we shall each celebrate him as we remember him,” said Kenyatta, adding that the family will onwards hold private commemorations.

He thanked former President Daniel Arap Moi for observing this day for 21 years and 3rd President Mwai Kibaki for 10 years.

“On behalf of the family of the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta I want to thank the 2nd president of the republic honorable Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi who without fail for 21 years observed this day, we are truly grateful to him for that,” he stated.

Kenyatta remembered his father as a man who gave his life to the service of the nation. “We are not just here to remember the man; we are also here to remember what he stood for and what he gave his life for. Leadership is not about where you are from but a desire to serve and make a difference,” he said.

“I remember this very early morning 41 years ago still very vividly and to some of us it looked as if it was the end of the world because we could not imagine life without him.”