US Embassy In Nairobi Announces Closure On Monday

The United States (US) Embassy in Nairobi announced on Sunday, June 18 that its offices in Gigiri will be closed for one day.

In a statement, the Embassy revealed that the offices will be closed on Monday, June 19, thus affecting Kenyans as well as Somali citizens who rely on the facility for its foreign services.

“The Embassy will remain closed to commemorate Juneteenth,” a statement from the foreign mission on social media read.

US President Joe Biden had previously directed that Juneteenth becomes a federal holiday in the United States and its missions abroad.

President William Ruto with the First Lady Mama Rachel and the US President Joe Biden with First Lady Jill Biden at the White House on Thursday, December 15, 2022. /PCS

The mission of the U.S. Embassy is to advance the interests of the United States and to serve and protect U.S. citizens in Kenya.  The Embassy in Nairobi was opened on March 2, 1964, when the United States established diplomatic relations with Kenya.

In 1998, the original embassy was the target of a terrorist attack, after which a new embassy building was constructed in Gigiri, a suburb of Nairobi, in 2003. The bombing as well as the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack in New York City and Washington DC prompted the US State Department to start a multibillion-dollar building and renovation program to make US embassies around the world safer.

Other functions of the embassy include; processing immigrant visas and acting as the public diplomacy arm of the United States.

Juneteenth Meaning

Juneteenth is an annual commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States after the Civil War and has been celebrated by African Americans since the late 1800s.

President Biden signed legislation in 2021 that made Juneteenth, which falls on June 19, a federal holiday, after interest in the day was renewed during the summer of 2020 and the nationwide protests that followed the police killings of Black Americans including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

At the time, he announced that the US had decided to choose love over hate, unity over disunion and progress over retreat.

“Juneteenth as a federal holiday is meant to breathe new life into the very essence of America. To make sure all Americans feel the power of this day and the progress we can make for our country,” Biden announced. 

Juneteenth is part of the US's 12 federal holidays which also include; New Year's Day, the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr, Inauguration Day, Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.