Leaders criticise Balala over west Kenya tourism circuit
Dennis Lumiti
Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala has been accused of deliberately frustrating efforts to promote tourism activities in western Kenya.
A section of leaders from the county said yesterday that Kakamega had been neglected since Balala took over as Tourism CS yet “he was their product”.
“CS Balala lived amongst us for so many years and even acquired his education at Government African School Kakamega (Kakamega High) but he has not shown any reciprocation to us since he joined the government. We have so many resources that can be used to promote tourism but he has deliberately chosen to frustrate us,” charged Shinyalu MP Justus Kizito.
Shinyalu is home to the Kakamega rainforest which is one if the rarest natural resources in East and Central Africa.
The constituency also hosts the “Crying Stone” at Ilesi along the Kakamega-Kisumu Highway.
Bull fighting
Other popular activities in the constituency and neighbouring Ikolomani are the “isukuti” dance, bull-fighting and rare local delicacies.
The leaders said former Tourism Ministers, and specifically Kalonzo Musyoka, had done a lot to promote the Western Circuit but that the initiative “had been killed by Balala”.
Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya said the current leadership under Balala had only concentrated on promoting tourism at the Coast region while ignoring Kakamega and other parts of the Western region.
He said the ministry had ignored Kakamega in its programmes geared towards promoting tourism.
“Kakamega and Western region as a whole has the potential of being one of the key tourist destinations but very little is being done by the Tourism Ministry to supplement these efforts. They have just focused on Mombasa,” he said.
The governor said the Tourism Trust Fund collects a lot of revenue from hotels in Western but never pumped back part of the cash to the region. He said all their initiatives to promote tourism were frustrated by the ministry.
Oparanya said it was “shameful” that Kakamega and entire Western region did not have a four or five-star hotels because of frustrations from the Tourism Ministry.
He said the ministry was even interfering with their efforts to fence off the Kakamega Forest as a way of promoting tourism.
He said the Sh400 million project was being scuttled by officers in the ministry and that of Forestry and Environment.
“We have had plans to fence Kakamega forest with intentions of getting gorillas from Congo Forest so that we make the forest an attraction facility but these plans have been frustrated by some people in the Tourism Ministry and other departments in the national government who have looked down upon this noble idea,” said Oparanya.
He said the project was going to be a game-changer for tourism in the region as it could be one of key sources of revenue for both the National and County Governments.
Oparanya added that the project was going to make the region a tourist destination thereby improving economic status of Kakamega town and its environs.
