And like a ship sailing away in a dark, misty night, August 22 passed away without any pomp at Nairobi's Holy Family Basilica on Saturday. And in the nearby Parliament Buildings, the parking lot was almost empty...no wreaths or military pageantry. This year, in place of the grand nearly day-long ceremony, which also acts as a family get together of the Kenyatta clan led by the matriarch Mama Ngina Kenyatta) and her first son Uhuru Kenyatta, there was what some security officers described as a private ceremony. During the last commemoration on August 22 last year, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced that the family had opted to discontinue the elaborate public commemoration of the event, in favour of a private event. One of the preachers at the church told Standard that the family had not reached out this year to request for the ceremony to be held there.

Source: Standard Digital August 22, 2020 14:41 UTC