Public holidays in Kenya, 2026

How Kenya public holidays work in 2026

Kenya's public holidays are listed in the Public Holidays Act Cap 110 Laws of Kenya, supplemented by Presidential proclamation under section 2 for moveable Islamic and one-off observances. The standing list runs to about twelve days: New Year's Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Labour Day on 1 May, Madaraka Day on 1 June commemorating the 1963 attainment of internal self-rule, Huduma Day on 10 October (replacing the former Moi Day), Mashujaa Day on 20 October honouring those who fought for independence, Jamhuri Day on 12 December marking the 1963 declaration of the republic, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, plus Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha by sighting of the moon. Election day is gazetted each cycle as a one-off public holiday.

Working days in Kenya

The Employment Act 2007 section 27 sets the standard working week at 52 hours over six days for general workers and 60 hours for night work. The standard private-sector office and banking week is Monday to Friday at 8 or 9 hours per day, with retail and informal sectors operating Monday to Saturday. Sunday is the statutory weekly rest day. The Interpretation and General Provisions Act section 57 rolls statutory deadlines falling on a Sunday or public holiday to the next working day. Settlement of shilling transactions runs on the Central Bank of Kenya's KEPSS RTGS system, which observes the gazetted twelve-day holiday list.

For people planning cross-border meetings, the practical move is to overlay Kenya's calendar with the calendars of the other countries on your team. A week that looks completely clear from your end might be a national holiday on theirs. The compare tool above pairs two country calendars and highlights the overlapping closures, so you can spot the weeks where almost no one is at their desk before you put a launch on the board.