Rachel Ruto Says Kenya Needs Thanksgiving Day Like USA: "For Prayers"

• Rachel Ruto is known for her diligence in prayer, an attribute that her husband, President William Ruto, has celebrated
• She said that Kenya needed a special holiday to give thanks to God for everything He had done for the nation
• The first lady observed that if developed nations like the United States of America had a special holiday for thanksgiving, Kenya also needed a special day to pray and thank God

Michael Ollinga is a journalist at TUKO.co.ke with over 10 years of experience covering courts and crimes, special reports, and current affairs in Kenya.

First Lady Rachel Ruto has proposed that Kenya should have a special thanksgiving holiday like the United States of America and Canada.

Rachel Ruto's prayer life

Rachel is known for being a prayerful woman, an attribute that her husband, President William Ruto, has mentioned and celebrated several times.

According to the first lady, giving thanks to God for everything He does for the country was fundamental to all Christians and believers of God.

She made these remarks on Monday, April 15, during a thanksgiving event at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre.

"We need always to thank God for everything. We should embrace prayer and always thank God for everything He does for us," she told the attendees of the event that was graced by, among others, Second Lady, Pastor Dorcas Rigathi.

Does Kenya celebrate Thanksgiving Day?

Rachel observed that if the USA had a thanksgiving holiday, a special day to thank God, Kenya also needed such a holiday to pray and give thanks to God.

"Just like America, Kenya will one day have a Thanksgiving Day when we will pray and thank God for everything," she said, as cited by Citizen TV.

What is Thanksgiving Day?

According to Britannica, Thanksgiving Day is a special day in the US and Canada to celebrate the harvest and other blessings of the previous year.

Many Americans believe the day is modelled on the 1621 harvest feast shared by English pilgrims to Plymouth.

When is Thanksgiving Day celebrated?

According to timeanddate.com, Thanksgiving Day is usually celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. The 2024 celebrations will be on Thursday, November 28.

Rachel made the remarks shortly after attributing Uganda's fertile land to spiritual blessings courtesy of the East Africa Revival of the Church in the 1920s and 1930s.

She said Uganda was blessed with fertile soils and experienced abundant rains because most of the East Africa Revival spiritual movement, known as Okulokoka in Luganda, happened in the East African nation.

Uganda's fertile soils

According to Rachel, the revelation about Uganda's fertile soils and good weather for food production pushed her to pray more for Kenya to prosper in food production and other sectors.

She recounted that her 2022 visit to Uganda opened up the revelation that the country was green while Kenya was dry and locals suffered from drought effects.

Proofreading by Jackson Otukho, a multimedia journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke