State should open Kenyatta Mausoleum to the public

It was that day again yesterday. President Uhuru Kenyatta, accompanied by a handful family members, government officials and clergy, walked into the gravesite next to Parliament Buildings in Nairobi, received a salute from a military guard, froze for the national anthem tune belted by a military band and then stepped forward to lay flowers.

A few onlookers watch from a distance on Parliament Road, attracted by the heavy presence of State security and grandeur.

Moments later, the President’s entourage pulled up at the gates of the Holy Family Basilica nearby for a short service, marking the end of the most exclusive State ceremony in Kenya.

The near-private nature of the August 22 memorial of Kenya’s founding father Jomo Kenyatta’s death is probably a good thing and it, hopefully, saves the government money that would have been splashed on a pompous street party involving school mass choirs, Nyakinyua traditional dancers and dramatic political speeches.

But the continued barricading of the Kenyatta Mausoleum, with mean-looking military guards at the gate suggesting that one could be shot for as much as trying to peep, also betrays a lack of creativity in the country’s tourism promotion plans.

Insecurity has been rightly blamed for crippling Kenya’s tourism industry in recent years.

But it is also true that the country hasn’t invested enough in growing her offerings beyond the sun and sand of the coastal beaches and the Big Five wild animals in the national parks and game reserves.

Despite the richness of its diverse cultures, the museums, cultural sites and monuments do not attract significant numbers of foreign and domestic visitors largely due to poor marketing.

LOOKING EAST

On coming to power in 2013, the Jubilee administration set itself a target of three million foreign tourists annually.

Initial official pronouncements suggested that the government was looking East for more numbers to shield Kenya’s tourism from the shocks of travel advisories regularly issued by traditional source markets in Europe.

Yet however much we dangled fat infrastructure projects in their faces, it is unlikely we were suddenly going to see Chinese cruise ships docking with rich tourists without expanding our packages.

Consider the dynamic thinking that goes into tourism promotion in France, the world’s leading tourist destination, for example.

The country has in recent years repositioned itself as a cultural destination, opening new museums and organising cultural tours in its key cities.

Les Invalides, the military museum in the heart of Paris that also hosts Napoleon’s tomb, is one of the must-visit places for tourists wishing to learn and appreciate the French cultural and military history.

At the tomb, visitors have the opportunity to view statues, paintings and other artefacts immortalising the most celebrated French military hero.

Even yesterday while the State shut out Kenyans from the resting place of their country’s Independence hero, the French were welcoming tourists to the Napoleon’s Tomb and consolidating its global tourism leadership while at it.

Otieno is Chief Sub-Editor, Business Daily; [email protected]; Twitter: @otienootieno