US Embassy in Nairobi to Close on June 19 for Juneteenth Holiday

The United States Embassy in Nairobi will be closed on Friday, 19 June, in observance of Juneteenth, a federal holiday in the United States. 

Routine consular services will not be available during the closure, with normal operations expected to resume afterwards. Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. 

The observance traces its origins to 19 June 1865, when Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that enslaved African Americans were free. The declaration came more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared freedom for enslaved people in Confederate states but could only be enforced in areas under Union control.

Because Texas remained largely beyond the reach of Union forces during much of the American Civil War, slavery continued there despite the proclamation. The arrival of Union troops in Galveston marked the effective end of slavery in the state. Later that year, on 6 December 1865, slavery was formally abolished across the United States through the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment.

For many years, African American communities have marked Juneteenth through cultural celebrations, community gatherings, music and reflection on the history of freedom and civil rights. The observance gradually gained national recognition and was designated a federal holiday in 2021 when President Joe Biden signed the legislation into law.

Today, Juneteenth is observed across the United States and by American diplomatic missions abroad, including embassies and consulates. The closure of the US Embassy in Nairobi reflects that observance and the significance of the day in American history.