Members of Atheists in Kenya Society are now demanding that February 17 be set aside and declared a public holiday to mark 'Atheists holiday'.
This is after Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i gazetted Monday, August 12, as a public holiday to mark the Islamic Festival of Eid ul Adha.
The society's president, Harrison Mumia, argued that atheists have been discriminated for long, since only the dominant religions, Christianity and Islam, have been enjoying 'religious privilege'.
"This declaration amounts to religious privilege that the dominant religions in Kenya (Christians and Muslims) have enjoyed since independence, courtesy of the Kenyan Government and the current Constitution," he said in a letter to the State on Thursday.
"In order to end this social inequity that is rooted in history and the normalization of Christianity and Islam as the de facto religions in Kenya, we demand that CS Fred Matiangi declare February 17th as an atheist holiday," read part of the letter.
Mumia argued that by the government recognizing their holiday, it will end 'social disadvantage that atheists continue facing in Kenya and create an environment for their acceptability'.
"As it stands today, atheists are considered an underclass in this country, yet our constitution protects freedom of belief and conscience," he added.
The government registered Mumia's group as a society on February 17, 2016 under the Societies Act, Cap 108.