A short tour of duty at Foreign Affairs, even shorter at Tourism

The Ministry of Tourism should portray Kenya as the most preferred tourist destination.

However, our neighbours have been stealing the thunder when it comes to attracting top dollar due to visitor-friendly policies. And while earnings have been on an upward trajectory, things have not been rosy for the two occupiers of the corner office at the ministry.

Alfred Mutua took over from Penina Malonza, once described as “colourless” and who had difficulties articulating her agenda to key stakeholders in the industry. it was a question of when, not if, she would be transferred.

Mutua’s transfer to the ministry in October 2023 was not without controversy, coming shortly after he made comments regarding the deployment of Kenyan police to Haiti while serving as Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary.

Mutua is a communications expert - a Doctorate in Communication and Media, Master of Science Degree in Communications and Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism - but by going public about the Haiti police deployment timelines, he may have bitten more than he could chew.

“At the request of Friends of Haiti Group of Nations, Kenya has accepted to positively consider leading a Multi-National Force to Haiti. Kenya’s commitment is to deploy a contingent of 1,000 police officers to help train and assist Haitian police restore normalcy in the country and protect strategic installations. An Assessment Mission by a Task Team of the Kenya Police is scheduled within the next few weeks,” he tweeted.

Not even the Interior Ministry, whose role it was to communicate such details, had communicated anything about deployment timelines.

At the Tourism Ministry, Mutua was supposed to lend a listening ear to players in the industry who are at the forefront in convincing tourists to visit the country. Unlike other ministries where the government has solid control, the tourism sector is largely driven by private players.

All we have been asking is for the cabinet secretaries in the ministry to listen to us,” says Monika Solanki, a coast-based tour operator. “The first Cabinet Secretary Peninah Malonza let us down. As for Mutua, I cannot tell the impact he had as he kept missing stakeholder meetings and usually sent his PS.”

Among the issues left unresolved includes a court case in Malindi where the ministry has been accused by tour operators of arbitrarily hiking park entrance fees and disregarding public participation processes.

Another complaint is the intermittent hike in Maasai Mara fees that have made the park expensive to tourists.

“A tourist pays taxes even before getting to the Mara yet we do not even have functioning public toilets. It is the small things that matter and that make us keep losing business to our neighbours,” she said.