Senate Speaker Amason Kingi has pleaded with Western nations and the Australian government to withdraw the numerous travel advisories against Kenya.
Kingi warned that the advisories are injurious to the tourism industry.
He said that the Kenya government has in the last 10 years made a huge investment in its security architecture arguing that it is only fair that travel advisories should align with this investment.
“It is important that the Australian government reviews the travel advisory against Kenya. We have put in place a lot of measures to curb incidences of terrorism in our country. The Australian government should review its policy on the advisory so that we can receive more Australian tourists,” Kingi said.
Kingi was speaking on Monday, February 20, when he hosted the Australian Assistant Foreign Minister Tim Witts at his office.
Witts, who is on an official visit to Kenya, had paid a courtesy call to the Speaker to learn about the progress the Senate has made in executing its mandate since the inauguration of the 13th parliament.
While he admitted, that Kenya has done a lot of investment in upscaling its security regime, Witts assured the Speaker that the advisories are under constant review.
“The advisories are always under review,” Witts said, pointing out that there has been a scale-down on the last advisories issued last time.
According to Witts, the security advisory issued by the government of Australia for its citizens not to travel to the coast region has been scaled down, adding that the same applies to an advisory issued against Nairobi.
At the same time, Witts admitted that Kenya has done a lot of investment in security and assured the Speaker that the advisories were subject to constant review.
“The advisories are always under review,” Witts said, pointing out that there has been a scale-down on the last advisories issued last time.
“We are constantly reflecting on the security situation. We have reviewed the advisory because we want to encourage more of our citizens to visit Kenya as tourists. Australians are passionate travellers and I am sure they will return.”
