Tourism suffers setback after terrorist attack kills 147

Somalia-based terrorist group Al- Shabaab’s attack on Garissa University College only days after the UK issued a fresh warning to its citizens against travelling to certain regions was the clearest indication of how low Kenya’s relations with its traditional allies have dipped.

The advisories, which were issued early this week amid protests from the Kenyan government, warned of looming terrorist attacks at the Coast or in areas close to the Somalia border.

“The UK has updated its travel advice for Kenya, adding advice against all but essential travel to the Coast from Tiwi (just south of Mombasa) all the way up to the border with Somalia,” said the advisory.

President Uhuru Kenyatta angrily responded to the alerts, insisting they were based on false information about Kenya’s security.

Hostile reaction by authorities and the coming to pass of the attacks have signalled that very little intelligence sharing is happening between Kenya and foreign governments.

At least 147 people were killed in the gun attack that was immediately followed by an Al-Shabaab statement claiming responsibility.

The attack, which happened after two months of relative calm, is expected to delay recovery of the tourism sector, one of Kenya’s key foreign exchange earners.

Tourism sector operators had hoped that the prevailing calm would offer a strong foundation for the recovery after a lean 2014 that saw arrivals drop drastically in the wake of travel advisories issued by governments of key source markets like the UK and US.

Terrorism threats saw bed occupancy in the coastal tourism hub fall below 20 per cent during the 2014 high-season—which starts in July.

The hotels normally operate at more 90 per cent during the period. The hotels need bed occupancy of between 60 and 70 per cent to break even.

In the third quarter of last year, occupancy fell to 14.6 per cent, and hoteliers yesterday said they expect to record low business over Easter.

Tens of hotels have closed shop while others have shed jobs, reflecting the poor state of affairs in a sector that also supports auxiliary sectors such as handicraft makers, taxi drivers, fishermen and farmers.

The attack came only a days after Mr Kenyatta directed Kenyan envoys in a biannual conference held last week to market Kenya as a safe tourist destination.

READ: Kenya-UK in talks to lift travel alerts as hotels shut down

At a diaspora conference held on Wednesday, the President also urged Kenyans living abroad to help woo tourists back despite the wave of militant violence.

Taking into account the terror attack, markets closed lower ahead of the Easter holidays. The NSE 20 share index dropped 43 points to close at 5196 points.

Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet said the armed attackers shot the guards manning the university gate as they forced their way into the institution, where they indiscriminately shot people.

Reports suggested that some students were held hostage by the gunmen in the college hostels.

Interior secretary Joseph Nkaissery said only 280 out of the 815 students of the university had been accounted for, nearly eight hours after the attack began.

Mr Boinnet said security personnel surrounded and sealed off the college as they fought to flush out the gunmen and rescue the hostages.

Mr Kenyatta reacted to the terror attack by directing that the recruitment of 10,000 police recruits that had been stopped by court proceeds immediately as he blamed rising insecurity on shortage of security personnel.

“I take full responsibility for this directive. We have suffered unnecessarily due to shortage of security personnel. Kenya badly needs additional officers, and I will not keep the nation waiting,” he said.

Reuters quoted Al-Shabaab spokesman Abdiasis Abu Musab as claiming responsibility for the attack and saying that they were holding Christian hostages after releasing Muslims.

Al-Shabaab have been responsible for most of the terror attacks in in Nairobi, North Eastern and along Kenya’s coast.

In September 2013, Al-Shabaab gunmen stormed Westgate Mall in Nairobi, killing at least 68, while June and July 2014 they killed close to 100 people in a series of attacks around Mpeketoni, Lamu County.

In November last year, they commandeered a Nairobi bound bus just outside Mandera town, killing 28 Kenyans—mostly school teachers. This has led to teachers posted to Mandera refusing to report to work in the area, paralyzing education services.

The militants also claimed responsibility for the killing of 36 quarry workers in Mandera.

US ambassador Robert Godec in condemning the latest attack said in a statement that there is need for all countries and communities to unite in the effort to combat violent extremism, while offering full US support to Kenya in combating terror.