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NEWS & CURRENT AFFAIRS

The Nairobian

Traders fury over downgrade of Naivasha town's status

Rift Valley

By Antony Gitonga | Feb 22, 2022

**The newly opened Nest Boutique Hotel in Naivasha located along the Moi South Lake road which has been touted as among the leading conference and tourists facilities in Naivasha.** [Antony Gitonga]

Nakuru County Tourism Association is warning of massive job losses in Naivasha due to the unpopular move by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to downgrade the status of the town.

The association noted that tens of hoteliers were contemplating relocating from the town after the commission downgraded it from tier one to two without any consultations.

The move has seen the daily subsistence rates for civil servants reduced with newly elevated Nakuru City being the main beneficiary.

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Under the newly gazetted rates, Nakuru has been ranked together with Mombasa, Kisumu and Nairobi while Naivasha falls under the lower cluster.

The daily rates for Nakuru have been raised to Sh22,000 for the top officers and Sh4,200 for the lowest while those staying in Naivasha will get Sh18,000 and Sh3,500, respectively.

According to David Mwangi, the association chairman, the move by SRC was beneficial to hoteliers in Nakuru but a curse for those in Naivasha.

Billions in investments

He noted that many of the investors had used billions in investments only for the SRC to downgrade the town without any consultations.

“Many hoteliers are thinking about relocating to Nairobi, Kisumu, Nakuru and Mombasa and this will lead to massive job losses,” he said.

Speaking after meeting the hoteliers in Naivasha, Mwangi noted that Naivasha hosted the majority of the hotels in Nakuru county and was now a hub of conferences.

On his part, the chairman of the association in Naivasha Kimani Gitau said that they would petition the SRC and the Ministry of Tourism to rethink the decision.

He said that the town had proven its credibility and ability by successfully holding major events like World Rally Championship, Peace accords and Love festival.

“The move by SRC is very unpopular and we are asking the Governor and the CS for Tourism to intervene before investors close down and relocate,” he said.

Another member Charity Githinji from Tandaza Africa said that the move would give hoteliers in Nakuru an advantage over their Naivasha counterparts.

Last month, the state agency released new daily subsistence allowances for local travel and per diem rates for Nakuru after it was elevated into a City.

In a memo, SRC chairperson Lyn Mengich said the review would apply to all Public Service officers in national and county governments from February 2.