Controversial Kenya Tourism Cabinet Secretary Plan To Privatise Game Parks Vehemently Opposed

Tourism stakeholders at the Coast have condemned the plans by the government to privatise national reserves and game parks.

They argued that the parks and convention centres are national treasures that should only be managed by the government.

This is after Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala last week indicated that the Ministry was looking at a new model of doing business as a way of reviving the sector due to the effects of Covid-19.

The move could see game parks, convention centres like the Kenyatta International Convention Centre [KICC], Utalii College, and national parks managed by private agencies.

However, led by the Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers [KAHC] Coast Executive Dr. Sam Ikwaye, the stakeholders termed the move as a dicey one that will affect their management.

“The worst thing any well-meaning and independent country can do is to privatise its natural and cultural resources. The government should never cede management of natural resources to outsiders or private entities,” charged Dr. Ikwaye.

He said that the government should learn from previous mistakes it has made and observe how privatisation has worked in other sectors of the economy.

He added that he fears that this will turn parks into cash cows for the private sector and a few individuals at the taxpayer’s expense.

And according to Kenya Coast Tourist Association Chief Executive Julius Owino, many parastatals should instead be merged instead of privatising key treasures such as national parks.

“For the parastatals, privatising them is not a good idea, but you can merge them so that they be managed under one umbrella,” he said, adding that national parks are not income-generating organisations that need private agencies to generate more revenues.

He gave examples like the KICC, Kenya Tourism Board, and the National Convention Bureau, whose roles of marketing the country is almost similar hence the need to merge them.

“These are national treasures. If you privatise them, it means that the government will be showing its inability to manage them,” he added

In his statement last week, Balala said the need to change the business models was to steer economic recovery after the pandemic.

“Why does the government run a convention bureau? Why can’t we outsource and make it more efficient? Why does the government run a national park? These are the things that need to be corrected,” he said during the European Union Green Diplomacy Webinar last week.

Ikwaye proposed that private agencies should be allowed to operate within the parks instead of ceding to their ownership of the government resources.

“What I would recommend is to allow leasing of facilities within the park for private enterprise or contract private management companies to reduce government inefficiencies,” he stated.

The stakeholders cited the privatisation of national flag carrier, Kenya Airways saying that the airline has been facing numerous challenges, which only doubled after its privatisation.