Voting day, August 29, a public holiday in Mombasa, Kakamega

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i has declared Monday, August 29, a public holiday in areas where voting will be taking place.

Dr Matiang'i said the holiday is to allow Kenyans a chance to participate in the polls.
Voters in Mombasa and Kakamega counties will vote for governors after the elections were suspended two weeks ago.

Those in Kitui Rural, Kacheliba, Pokot South and Rongai constituencies, as well as the wards of Kwa Njenga (Embakasi, Nairobi) and Nyaki West (Imenti North) will vote for MPs and members of the county assembly (MCAs).

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In a Kenya Gazette notice, the government requested employers in those areas to release their workers to enable them to vote.

“In accordance with the Constitution of Kenya Article 101(1) ,177(1) (a)and 180 (1) and the Public Holidays Act (Section 2(4) and (3), Monday August 29, 2022 has been declared a public holiday in the listed electoral areas,” the notice said.

The declaration of a public holiday in the eight electoral areas has come as a relief for candidates, who had asked the government to give voters a break from work to participate in the election.

The candidates had expressed fears that voters might not turn up in large numbers to participate in the elections if they were conducted on a working day.

The Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) had suspended voting in the eight electoral areas on the eve of the August 9 General Election.