Kenya's peak tourist season is approaching, just days away from the boom that coincides with the Christmas and New Year holidays and will see thousands of travellers entering and staying, especially in the country's coastal resorts and national parks and reserves in the savannah.
What should one expect this year from the national services that often risk slowdowns, if not collapse, during this period?
Let's take a look at the situation by points, in accordance with our research in the media talking about it these days and the various institutional and parastatal company profiles on social media.

SECURITY

As reported by national authorities, the government has tightened security in view of the festivities.

Deputy Interior Minister Raymond Omollo said that the measures taken include tightening security at entry and exit points, including airports and border crossings, hotels, shopping centres, public beaches and tourist sites. In particular, the Lamu region is under close surveillance due to the ease of entry into Kenya and past terrorist activities, of which the Boni forest on the border with Somalia has always been an epicentre as well as a hideout.

Despite the fact that there have been no incidents or reprisals in the areas less distant from tourist destinations for quite some time, the police and army are not letting their guard down.

‘The north-eastern region and the enclave of Boni remain under close surveillance, as terrorism is a constant threat to the country,’ Omollo said.

In this regard, the National Multi-Agency Command Centre (NMACC) comprising the Kenyan Army, National Police, KWS Rangers, Forestry (KFS) and Coast Guard (KCGS) has been activated to deter security threats and maintain law and order during the Christmas and New Year festivities. In all, over ten thousand officers were deployed along the six coastal counties.

A number of special units, including discharged officers who have been recalled for the occasion, will monitor not only to coordinate and improve security operations, but to pay special attention to petty crimes that can often affect foreign travellers, such as pickpocketing and mugging in crowded areas, housebreaking, traffic violations, noise violations and more.

The Deputy Minister urged citizens to remain vigilant and cooperate with law enforcement agencies during the season, especially for the most vulnerable communities, including women, children and persons with disabilities. Just as the request and control also concerns parents of minors, who will have to take responsibility not to leave them alone and ensure for their safety.

TRAFFIC

During the festive season, the movement of vehicles carrying tourists will be complemented by the exodus of thousands of Kenyans, both the more affluent ones with their private vehicles and the majority with buses and matatu.
With the establishment of many checkpoints and the presence of traffic and tourist police on major arterial roads, compliance with traffic regulations will be subject to more checks. The National Transport Safety Authority (NTSA) will work in concert with the police to enforce traffic regulations. This is because usually during the high season and particularly during the holidays, accidents increase exponentially and unfortunately so do the fatalities. As is often the case at this time of year, traffic police are equipped with alcohol tests (alcoblow) to check the alcohol level of drivers. All checks would be welcome if the practice of bribing officers was not so widespread in this country.

WATER AND LIGHT

During the festive season at the end of 2023, in the seaside resorts and particularly in Watamu, there were significant problems in the continuity of electricity and water supplies.
In the former case, several hours-long blackouts occurred, forcing more and more residents and businesses to equip themselves with power generators, uninterruptible power supplies, inverters and photovoltaic systems. From this point of view, those working in the tourism sector are prepared this year, but disruptions are the order of the day, especially for the reason that certain transformers are not adapted to the expansion of the tourist resort, which consumes much more electricity at this time.
A similar problem relates to water supply, with the only power station in Baricho, inland from Malindi, which has to serve the whole of Kilifi County and which may face difficulties in pumping systems, filters to ensure the least possible impure water, and maintenance of plants and pipelines that will be under more stress than ever before.

SLOWDOWNS OF ESSENTIAL SERVICES

In addition to the queues at banks, other important local facilities may not guarantee the already ‘un-European’ times in delivering services. This also and especially concerns online services such as extension of residence visas, booking of entries to national parks, functionality of the Mpesa service and so on.
The mass use of certain online services is the main cause of the slowness, malfunctioning, and in some cases, the tilting of the computer systems that deliver them.