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Kenya: We Have Faced Huge Losses Due to Azimio Protests, Malonza Tells Senators


Nairobi — Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage Cabinet Secretary Peninanah Malonza has alluded that the country has suffered losses running into billions in the sector due to the ongoing Azimio La Umoja demonstrations.

Appearing before the floor of the Senate, Malonza told senators that due to advisory alerts given to tourists that the country is not a safe tourist destination, tourists have shied away.

“The country suffered because of advisory that were issued that Kenyans is not a safe tourist destination and therefore even if I don’t have the figures on the number of cruise ship that were scheduled to come.I know we suffred a huge loss,”she said.

She revealed that a cruise ship which was slated to dock in the country last month for five days had led to the loss of Sh 80 Million worth of revenue after it was rescheduled to Zanzibar due to the opposition coalition demonstrations.

“The loss we got from that one cruise ship was Sh 80Million besides the number of other losses. If they were to visit besides the other losses, one tourist supports six jobs in this country,” Malonza told Senators.

Nominated Senator Veronica Maina had raised a question on the schedule of cruise ships that were scheduled to dock in Kenya between January 2022 and June 2023 but had canceled their voyage.

Senator Maina demanded answers on why the cruise ships if any had changed their destination from Kenya, stating the reasons for the cancellation or change.

The Tourism Boss however failed to furnish the House with the quantifiables in terms of losses that the docket has faced due to the ongoing Azimio protests.