New security guidelines on Likoni ferry spark accusations of racism

Hundreds of commuters on board the MV Nyayo cross the Likoni channel on the Indian Ocean. Residents are up in arms against a directive exempting white tourists using the ferry from rigorous security checks. (PHOTO: MAARUFU MOHAMED/ STANDARD)

Mombasa residents are outraged by the introduction of a new policy by Kenya Ferry Services which gives preferential treatment to tourists but is seen to discriminate against Kenyans.

The new guideline empowers security agents manning ferries to subject local tourists and coastal residents to stringent security checks while boarding the ferry  but exempts tourists, who are not even required to disembark from their vans.

New guidelines exempting white tourists from stringent security checks have sparked public outrage.

The guidelines issued by the Kenya Ferry Services (KFS) exempt foreign tourists boarding ferries on the Likoni channel from the stringent security checks.

While foreign tourists are not required to step out of their vans to be frisked when vehicles enter the ferry, domestic tourists and local residents are forced to alight for inspection.

Tourist police have firm instructions not to allow domestic tourists drive aboard before stringent security searches.

Reports indicate that hoteliers and tour operators initiated the preferential treatment for foreign tourists to speed their movement between Mombasa mainland and South Coast.

But the guidelines have have elicited sharp reactions from local residents and human rights groups.

They argue that even if their intention was noble, implementing the guidelines violated the country’s constitution and amounted to racial discrimination.

The new directive has re-ignited a decades-old debate about racial discrimination in the tourist sector along the coast.

A section of residents and human rights activists in the coastal town claim that local tourists have in the past been subjected to racial profiling or offered poor services in the hospitality industry while foreigners receive top-notch treatment.

“The issue is as old as Kenya tourism sector. It is high time we stop burying our heads in the sand and accept that discrimination against locals in the tourism sector is real,” said Julius Ogogoh, an official with the Commission for Justice and Human Right in Mombasa.

Perceived discrimination

The Kenya Association of Hotel Keepers and Caterers has said that the perceived or real discrimination of domestic tourists was largely due to untrained workers.

KFS remained unmoved by protests from a section of Kenyans who say they have already faced the blunt side of the new guidelines.

“Only foreign tourists will be given preferential treatment at the Likoni crossing channel,” said KFS Managing Director, Bakari Gowa.

Mr. Gowa moved to downplay the issue, saying the new guidelines were agreed on by hoteliers and tour operators.

“From the look of it someone may see it as a form of discrimination but this is an agreement we agreed on with tour operators and hotel sector players. I even have minutes to that effect,” he said.

He said that the directive has been misunderstood.

KFS introduced stringent security measures for passengers and motorists crossing the channel following increased fears of terrorist attack.

The government has since established a second police station to complement an old one on the Likoni side. But the decision by the management to allow “white tourists” to pass unchecked and subject the black and local tourists to security searches has raised questions on KFS’s security priorities.

KFS has defended the guidelines, saying foreign tourists are allowed to jump the queue so that they do not miss their flights.

“The domestic tourists should bear with us,” said KFS MD.

Mombasa county commissioner, Evans Achoki expressed surprise at the rules.

“It is difficult for KFS to determine whether one is a foreign or local tourist,” he said.