Tourism ‘on its knees’ after attacks, says President Uhuru Kenyatta

Nairobi, Kenya: Kenya’s tourism sector is “on its knees” after attacks by al Qaeda-linked Islamist militants carried out in retaliation for intervention in Somalia, President Uhuru Kenyatta said.

Mr Kenyatta met Somali leaders and asked for their help in identifying people they thought may be behind attacks that have dented plans to boost the tourism sector. “We all have a responsibility to bring this to an end. Tourism has been greatly affected by these terror activities. The industry, which contributes 10 per cent to the GDP, is virtually on its knees,” Uhuru said.

Tourist arrivals in the first five months of last year were down 15 per cent on the previous year as visitors stayed away, worried by attacks blamed on Somalia’s al Shabaab and jitters about March poll, which in the event passed off peacefully. Full-year tourist figures have not been published yet. The tourism sector employs 150,000 people. President Kenyatta ordered police to stop taking bribes from suspects arrested on suspicion of being linked to the attacks. He said action would be taken against “the fools who take bribes and allow criminals to commit crimes”. On Tuesday, Kenya ordered all Somali refugees living in towns to return to their camps in a bid to end the attacks. In the latest incident, gunmen killed six worshippers in Likoni, Mombasa, a tourist magnet. Police said they shot dead two suspects in that attack on Friday, but a third escaped with gunshot wounds. And yesterday, a hand grenade was on Sunday found inside a church in Mpeketoni, Lamu and removed safely by police.

Last week, police arrested two men found with two large bombs in a car that they intended to use in Mombasa. In the worst attack so far by al Shabaab, at least 67 people were killed at the Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi last September.

—Reuters