Petition to the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government (Kenya), to designate the public holiday on 10th October as Shukrani Day / Thanksgiving Day.

We the democratic People of Kenya, citizens and defenders of the Constitution of Kenya,

UNITED by the mutual desire to express politeness to our husbands, wives, Children, parents, neighbours, customers and service providers.

MOTIVATED by the last words of our National Anthem urging us to express gratitude on a daily basis, and

INVIGORATING the legal incapacity of the Cabinet Secretary to assign any purpose, manner of celebration or name to the public holiday,

RECOGNIZING the High Court ruling that recognized the legality and constitutionality of the public holiday prescribed on 10th of October by the Public Holidays Act,

INVOKING our sovereign right to exercise our Sovereign Power directly as stated in Article 1 (2) of the Constitution of Kenya,

ACKNOWLEDGING our duty to promote and defend the well-being of our women in execution of Article 21 (3) of the Constitution of Kenya,

Do hereby petition the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government to declare that the public holiday on 10th of October –

• Has, by default, been renamed to Shukrani Day (or Thanksgiving Day);
• Shall be a day dedicated to Fathers and Men to lead their wives, families, friends, communities, employers, employees, customers and suppliers in expressing thanksgiving, gratitude and appreciation to the All-Mighty and every well-intentioned person;
• Shall be celebrated at the marital, family, community, religious and business level and it shall not be presided over by any State officer or political persona; and
• May be celebrated with displays or images and symbols depicting family, children, community and trade but it shall not be celebrated using political or national symbols.

Our declaration is guided by the following principles and observations;

• The 10th date of the 10th month symbolically rhymes with the ten fingers of the exchanging pairs of hands that give and receive services with gratitude;
• Kenyans have a negative reputation of lacking gratitude, gratefulness and politeness and this vice has grown to the level of matatu crew killing innocent passengers by throwing them out of speeding buses;
• Lack of gratitude is the root of corruption as Kenyans seek to gain power and material wealth at all costs and by all means including theft and murder without a possibility of reaching satisfaction, acceptance of limits, respect for other people’s resources or regard for the rights and dignity of others;
• Kenya has three historical holidays which, quite unfortunately and erroneously, -
  • have come to be associated with acquisition and demonstration of political and military power; and
  • have become focused on the persona of the President and his political party rather than on the focus of the family as the fundamental unit of the society.
• Kenya does not have a holiday whose manner of celebration promotes the giving and sharing of power between individuals at the family or community level or between individuals and the All Mighty; and
• Kenya has exhibited a surge in murders, violence and offences between spouses, couples, courting males and females, families and business associates.