11 October 2023
Erstwhile Foreign minister Alfred Mutua has been appointed as the new Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Tourism, Wildlife & Heritage. Last Wednesday 4 October 2023, Kenya‘s President William Ruto reshuffled eight members of his cabinet, and folded the foreign affairs ministry into the office of the chief minister. The changes, according to Reuters, were necessary to “optimise performance and enhance delivery as set out in the administration’s manifesto.” President Ruto said.
Hon. Peninah Malonza who was the former Cabinet Secretary for Tourism, Wildlife & Heritage, has now assumed the role of Cabinet Secretary for the East African Community, the ASALs & Regional Development ministry, following the cabinet reshuffle by President William Ruto.
Meanwhile, the new CS for Tourism, Wildlife & Heritage, Alfred Mutua posted on his official X (formerly Twitter) handle, his remark during the official handover process. The remark is available below:
MY REMARKS DURING THE OFFICIAL HANDING OVER PROCESS HELD AT THE MINISTRY OF TOURISM AND WILDLIFE OFFICE
I am honored and delighted to assume my new assignment as Minister of Tourism and Wildlife. I feel greatly energized and motivated in this new capacity and engagement to deliver on the Kenya Kwanza agenda of improving the lives of Kenyans.
Secondly, I would like to thank and commend my sister and colleague, CS Hon. Peninah Malonza, for the commendable job she has done in the Ministry and the warm welcome she has accorded me. I will be building on her success as we chart new pathways to promote tourism locally and globally. Also, I wish to thank the two PS’s Mr. John Ololtuaa and Ms. Silvia Museiya for their hard work and determination, and the diligent and committed workforce in the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife.
Our young men and women need jobs now more than ever before in the face of global economic slump. We need to re-engineer our Ministry to focus on job creation now, not tomorrow. The tourism and wildlife sector can create many job opportunities.
Innovative ideas from all stakeholders are key to unlocking the great potential in our Ministry. We welcome all ideas that will help us improve the quality of life for common mwananchi. In this regard, I will be holding consultative meetings with all stakeholders starting from Monday next week. I will meet with all parastatal boards and all stakeholders. For stakeholders, please meet and prepare memorandum for me on how to build this sector with ideas that are out of the box solutions. We will work as partners to inject a new life to the sectors.
The bottom-up model requires that we imagine and implement projects with the common mwananchi as the cornerstone. I will work with all stakeholders in order to deliver on job and wealth creation for our beloved country.
Our ministry will strive to be the top foreign exchange earner. To this end, we will revamp and beef up all forms of tourism: medical tourism, sports tourism, etc.
We will explore and create new tourist attractions and pathways for domestic and international tourists. 8. We will re-examine and redesign the entire tourism ecosystem in Kenya with a view to improving the flow of tourists.
I will enjoin the County governments in identifying and implementing strategic plans in order to promote our mission of creating jobs.
To be effective within a short time, as you know am ChapChap, we will need to think exponentially, and not in a linear fashion. We need new ideas that catapult us to a high level, very quickly. Our people are hungry. We do not have the luxury of time.
We are going to push for domestic tourism and shopping, medical and relaxion tourism for Africans: our fellow Africans do not need to go to the Middle East, Europe or Asia for shopping. They can come to Kenya for the same services.
Finally, I am a team player and I hope to put up a winning team to deliver jobs and opportunities for business to my people of Kenya.