KENYA-ECONOMY: Unrest Hits Tourist Haven

By Moyiga Nduru Reprint | | Print |

Moyiga Nduru

NAIROBI, Aug 18 1997 (IPS) - Nervous hoteliers and travel agencies here are worried about the effects on Kenya’s tourism industry of an orgy of violence in the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa, some 500 kms southeast of here and a popular destination for tourists.

Local media reported here on Monday that the death toll from the unrest, which erupted on Aug. 13, had reached 29.

It began when a gang of marauders said to be advocates of a federal system that would give the ‘indigenous’ people of Mombasa a greater say in running their affairs, attacked the main police station at Likoni, a bustling suburb of Mombasa, and the nearby Likoni ferry Tourist Police Unit, stealing 30 automatic guns and 5,000 rounds of ammunition.

More than 2,000 persons have reportedly been displaced by the violence which, according to unconfirmed sources, is aimed at non- indigenous Mombasa residents. No tourist has been reported hurt.

The police said on Monday that they had arrested 69 suspects, including a number of top Mombasa-based opposition leaders, in connection with the disturbances.

They include Mohamed Khelef Khalifa, founder-member of the unregistered Safina party, the chairman of the National African Democratic Union (NADU) party, Ali Chidzondo, the Imam of the Masjid Jihad Mosque, Amiri Banda, and a top Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) official, Alamin Mazrui.

Najib Balala, the chairman of the Mombasa and Coast Tourist Association, told journalists on Sunday that the disturbances had dealt a ‘severe blow’ to the tourism industry. He said the violence had come at a wrong time — during the tourist high season. He did not elaborate.

On Monday, overseas tourists were advised by the local authorities in Mombasa to stay within hotel compounds and seek police protection whenever they wanted to go out to visit tourist sites.

The police have also tightened security at all tourist establishments, including beaches, following a number of visits to Mombasa by Kenya’s Police Chief Duncan Wachira.

The unrest, which the state-owned ‘Kenya Times’ reported on Monday to be spreading to Kongowea and Kisauni suburbs of Mombasa, has come at a time when Kenya’s tourism industry is recovering from years of depression.

The industry, Kenya’s second foreign currency earner after agriculture, picked up in 1996, registering a 2.4-percent increase over the previous year. In 1995, both tourism earnings and arrivals had declined by 20 percent, the sharpest fall in the industry in almost 10 years, according to the 1996 Kenya Economic Survey report.

The decline was blamed partly on the weakening of the economies of industrialised countries which provide the majority of tourists. It was also attributed to the negative publicity in the international press on insecurity in Kenya.

Kenya’s tourism industry represents more than 10 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs upwards of 350,000 people.

A recent report by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) says the industry needs to grow by five percent per annum for meaningful returns to be realised.

The industry is also in danger of being overtaken by rival markets such as Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Botswana.

The disturbances in Mombasa followed two bloody demonstrations, on Jul. 7 and on Aug. 8 respectively, organised by opposition political parties demanding constitutional reforms. More than ten people were killed during those incidents.

Since then, travel agencies and hoteliers have been complaining about the effects of such unrest on Kenya’s tourism industry.

Immediately after the Aug. 8 disturbances, some tour operators here complained that they had registered up to 10-percent cancellation of bookings by foreign tourists fearing insecurity and political unrest in Kenya.

President Daniel Moi on Sunday blamed the unrest in Mombasa on tribalism which he said was being fanned by politicians for selfish interests.

The Kenya Times newspaper Monday claimed that an unknown group calling itself the Opposition United Rebels (OUR) was behind the unrest in Mombasa. It published a letter, allegedly written by the rebel group, which it said was received by Mombasa’s top police officer, Francis Gichuki.

“Moi’s regime is coming to an end. OUR have registered 876,247 young soldiers and 64 percent of the armed forces are on our side,” the group was quoted as saying in its letter. “We are very committed to our struggle for democracy and within some few months you will know just how seriously dedicated we are.”

Sources here say they fear that the tourist haven stretching from Mombasa to the Tanzanian border will suffer if calm does not return to the area soon.