Surprise Public Holiday...

In the morning on Monday, July 5th, I received two phone calls and two text messages from out staff, all informing me that today is a public holiday as the President made the announcement. "What ...?"

July 4th is the Liberation Day in Rwanda, celebrating the liberation of the country from the horrible genocide in 1994. This year, it fell on Sunday. Normally, the following Monday does not become a public holiday automatically because a holiday falls on Sunday. So if the government wants to make a holiday, then it makes an announcement usually in the morning of that day. Why can't they make the announcement a little earlier? The government seems so disorganized?

Perhaps... But there is another reason that the announcement is made in the morning on that day, rather than the night before or well in advance, like in many other countries.

If the announcement is made too early, the government is concerned that 1) people may choose to drink too much on Sunday and 2) people may sleep too long on Monday. The bottom line is that the government wants to see its people use this surprise holiday for more constructive purposes. Hmmmm...

I can sense that people could argue for and against this logic. What do you think? - Jeffrey