Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala was recently caught lying about the need to flatten the curve of COVID-19 so as to reopen the economy.
The CS who uses looks more than brains to get by, claimed that, ‘Tourism forms 24% of Kenya’s GDP and also employs about 1.6 million people”.
Renowned economist David Ndii immediately pointed to the false claims. Ndii responded, ‘this is plain false. Kenya’s GDP is ~$100b. Total tourism receipts $2b i.e. 2%. The entire private sector hospitality sector employment is 80k, 0.4 percent of workforce. There is no multiplier on earth that can make your numbers. How do you expect to be taken seriously?”.
Balala who was in 2017 re-appointed as Cabinet Secretary for Tourism & Wildlife by Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta has had a tumultuous reign.
In 2018, more than 11 rhinos died after botched relocation. Balala was fingered but he dismissed those claims.
The White Elephant, SGR bridge to Naivasha was also called out for destroying the good old Nairobi National Park but the ministry which boasts of international awards and recognition did nothing.
Tourism ministry easily lies to people who haven’t read the book, “The Big CONservation Lie‘, by John Mbaria and Mordecai Ogada.
The colonial powers that reside within the conservation sector often tout “alternative livelihoods” as key to the economic empowerment of pastoralist communities. But this flimsy window dressing barely hides the fraud within. Conservation interests have built a cauldron into which the extremely wealthy are pouring startling amounts of money to subvert systems, grab lands, and plunder resources. – Mordecai Ogada
The awards are a cover-up for sinister happenings. The book exposes the lie that is the conservation industry which forcefully takes up land fro indigenous Kenyans in the guise of Conservancies.
Balala has been making big remarks over the strategy of the Tourism ministry in reopening post-covid-19. Most of those are like the shouts of a teenager with little information.
this is plain false. Kenya’s GDP is ~$100b. Total tourism receipts $2b i.e. 2%. The entire private sector hospitality sector employment is 80k, 0.4 percent of workforce. There is no multiplier on earth that can make your numbers. How do you expect to be taken seriously? https://t.co/bD0Z5Fe2vT
— David Ndii (@DavidNdii) May 14, 2020
Statement from the Ministry of Tourism
"Combined with domestic spending, travel and tourism supported 8.8 per cent of the nation’s GDP in 2018, an increase from about 3.7 per cent in 2017."
This dude is a clown extraordinaire… [and a killer of rhinos]https://t.co/Tg79sLnWoz
— Sura Mbaya (@surambaya) July 16, 2020
