Mohammed Hersi . A hotelier who is passionate about Tourism & Governance in Africa.

Good people I have seen a list of hotels either closing or are under duress on various chat groups.

While pessimists love to share anything and everything bad please allow me to shed light as follows .

Every product has a shelf life and at some point it plateus. If you don’t invigorate it then it dies. There is also nothing wrong to close and bounce back bigger and better .

While that list focused on some 7 or so hotels we have also have double that number opening in Nairobi while old brand names like Nairobi Serena undergoing a major refurb. Currently Sarova Panafric is doing the same and they are even adding more new rooms.

Mayfair is closing shop since the owner a Kenyan family who own the property wants to redevelop the plot and that may include a hotel. Tsonga Sun were only managing . Anyone saying a South African hotel group is exiting Kenya due to bad times is misinformed. You are just ignorant.

Jacaranda I feel for them . Hotel business and shareholders feuds don’t go together . I hope and pray they resolve their issues soonest possible. Jacaranda is a beautiful hotel in a prime location.

Windsor is going some rough patch as well but downsizing to plan a comeback is very much part of business but again a location to die for.

Pride Inn MD / Owner has made it clear . What was said about Lantana was nothing but nonsense. Hasnain Noorani please keep going and you have full faith in Kenya .

Boma is a good business but highly geared and that may not work very well in the hotel industry . Financing a project 100% debt financing is always a long shot but I strongly believe good management can help them come out of their financial turbulence.

So much about bad news , now the following brand new hotels have opened.

We now have three yes 3 Radissons in Nairobi.

Hilton 2 and soon 3.

We now have 3 Airport hotels . 5 years ago we had none. 1 Hilton. 1 IHG. I Sheraton.

Tribe added a brand new hotel trendy hotel Trademark at Village Market . Go have a look .

City Lodge at Two Rivers.is another great addition.

Then Ole Sereni major expansion which has just been completed

Then throw into the mix Villa Rosa Kempinski. Crowne Plaza. Best Western and I can go on and on and on.

To those who see nothing but doom pole sana you will have to wait for a very long time.

Are we facing challenges ? Of course we are . If you don’t want challenges then please don’t get out of bed. You cannot talk about the weather when you are still in bed.

Folks as always I choose to remain an optimist.

Mohammed Hersi

Chairman Kenya Tourism Federation .

I have seen friends deactivate their social media accounts because of bullying by characters who feel they own the cyber space.

First things first. Your timeline on FB or handle on Twitter is YOUR personal space . You have been given the title deed by FB and Twitter to that space hence no one and I repeat no one has any business to get into your space to bully you.

If one is faceless without a profile picture I don’t enagage faceless souls / cowards. I simply BLOCK them because they fail Test No 1 of social media . TRANSPERANCY. There is a reason why FB and Twitter have given us the option to block such toxic characters.

There is a big difference disagreeing on something and folks who do nothing but at any given opportunity would write toxic stuff. These are chaps who never create any content but they just trol others spewing toxic. Real existing people , we may not agree on issues at all times but RESPECT & DECORUM is key. I have many of them as friends.

I have witnessed characters who attempt to draw boundaries for you on what you can say or post. I tend to comment on many issues be it business , career and even political status both local and global. For one to be able to comment on issues you MUST develop the good habit of reading books and good books for that matter. Reading opens your mind and reading a book is like spending time with the author. When you read autobiography on world leaders it’s like you spent time with them . It took them years to write such a book.

Back to the toxic fellows, these are people who are unhappy with themselves. They are busy working hard to get you to join them in their corner in being toxic. Some are even unhappy when I thank goverment be it national or county. These toxic chaps do not know the power of GRATITUDE. A simple thank you means alot .

How do you deal with such chaps , faceless ones BLOCK THEM PAP.

Real existing people try to engage them and 80% of the time you’ll become great friends . If it doesn’t work and they keep bullying you well simple block them as well since they came looking for you on your timeline.

Folks don’t quit social media because of such characters . Lock them in the trash bin where they belong. Taka Taka.

Well as always I choose to remain an optimist that I would meet ladies and Gentlemen on this huge social media platform. Truth be said I have made friends and met many including families who are now my best of friends.

DO NOT EMPOWER ANYONE TO MAKE YOU UNHAPPY. Let no one smoke you out of social media . We are here to stay.

Mohammed Hersi
Mombasa

Masinga Dam excess water being released to avoid flooding in the locality

Last weekend I travelled to Garissa for a family function.

A couple of weeks ago I did ask on this same forum the best route to take .

Going I opted to hit Mombasa Road till Kibwezi and took right turn to Kitui. I must commend GOK for the beautiful road and what a pleasure and the scenery.

I am not a stranger to Kamba land since I attended both O and A level in Eastern province. Mutomo , Kitui and Mwingi were places that are familiar but the road then was rough and dusty.

Last week was all wet and rain and at some point we had to cross a very swollen river ( bridge was intact ) which was Athi River and I could not believe how much water Almighty God had sent our way . We even prayed for rain early this year at the height of biting drought.

The road construction is ongoing with a few miles to go to Kitui town . Some chap even directed me to some short cut where a stream was flowing to bypass the road diversion. I decided to follow the rest of the motorists to avoid becoming one of the motorists who followed the advice of a guy in the middle of nowhere.

The road from Kitui to Mwingi was also very good. I was pleasantly surprised with Mwingi which looked quite neat and well kept. It was also nice to see some good eateries that have come up since the last time I was in this part of our beautiful country.

The stretch from Mwingi to Garissa used to be a good road but security was never that good but not anymore . We drove to Garissa without any issues as dusk set in.

Well Garissa was pitch dark since street lights were not functioning due to some dispute between Garissa County and our usual suspects Kenya Power . Garissa County has some work to do.

Why am I narrating this ?

While I criss crossed from Mombasa. Kilifi. Kwale. Taita Taveta . Makueni . Kitui and Garissa county and on my return Tana River County I saw no evidence of water harvesting in pans and small dams. Those are 8 counties.

The only county where I saw some attempt of water harvesting was along Mwingi Garissa Road.

All these counties I mentioned are water stressed counties. Why is it so difficult to deliberately dam some of these seasonal streams and use this water in drier months ?

When you fly across Europe, USA and even many parts of Asia you will not fail to see the hundreds of water pans everywhere . Once you do that you simply pump the water to a higher level and you give your people uninterrupted supply of water year old round both for farming and domestic use. I thought GOK/ Jubilee to deliver on agriculture as a Big 4 , water is a critical success factors. Bore hole is NOT a solution.

I believe even CDF and the county goverment should be able to do simple water pans to harvest all the water that is going to waste.

It took vision in the 70’s and very early 80’s for the Seven Forks dam to generate power. The people living around the dam will tell you about the micro weather that has resulted from such mass of water.

The same can be replicated downstream. We are currently losing all the top soil that is swept to the ocean . The red soil is destroying our corals in the ocean which helps to keep the balance .

Looking at the water gushing out of Masinga going to waste is one BIG failure by successive regimes.

Ukambani Garissa and most parts of coast should not be facing drought every other year when God give is so much water. God gave us brain to think and work around the challenges we face.

Kenya is not short of resources , leadership is what is failing is from national to county level.

Folks we just can’t continue leaving such good rains to go to waste and 9 months later we are praying to God to help us deal with drought, Well God will be upset with us.

These are challenges but we can surmount them.

Well as always I choose to remain an optimist

Mohammed Hersi
Mombasa

Visionary move by Rwanda and Qatar.

For a long time location has been Kenyas biggest competitive edge since Kenya was considered almost the centre of Africa. 4 hours flight to any corner of Africa so KQ was well placed to exploit it.

Ethiopia is also in good location but closed economy , military rule and communism policies held them back. While Ethiopia Airlines is older at 73 years even older than BA 43 or Lufthansa 63 they never grew over the years. Until 15 years ago ET fleet was fewer than KQ and passengers numbers were less than half.

Today they handle double our numbers and they are now set to topple Joburg from the top spot thanks to all the mess SAA is going through.

Now coming back to Rwanda.

Kigali is now even more centred right in the heart of Africa.

They have a goverment and President that drive enablers . PK is obsessed with excellence and hates mediocrity. His execution commitment is second to none. Corrupt people have no space let alone to create drama.

The airport at Bugesera is a huge project. PK is inspired by LKY. That airport project has been on paper for close to 15 years and funding was a huge challenge.

Now Qatar ended up being marooned by neighbours who closed their airspace, Middle East geopolitics at work and they had to think out of the box literally hence they are getting a solution in another continent ( in another box ) . It’s clear they are going to bed with Rwanda to go round that nonsense of sanctions . Simply put they are replicating another Doha but in Africa and they can fly to any country in the world with ease as RwandaAir. It is a win win . Rwanda and Qatar two small countries in terms of size are coming together and I salute both leadership.

On the other hand Qatar has just found a great launch pad into the African continent. Due to lack of good roads air travel is still the only option but it is not developed . Imagine for once when they enter DRC Congo and Nigeria big time with RwandaAir backed by a reliable hub similar to Changi or Doha.

All West Africans will opt for Kigali , it’s closer and they consider them truly an African country. Kigali is one country that lifted Visa for all Africans. You may not believe that but I have met many West Africans who considered KQ more African than Ethiopia and it is one reason many still use KQ despite the bad treatment they get at our hub.

Kigali will go places.

Security is key for any hub and thanks to the Somalia mess we are considered not so safe.

In a nutshell everyone will feel the heat including Ethiopian and all the reason why KQ must get it’s ducks in a row.

All the reason why we must fix our summer airport JKIA . It was lied to us that we have an all weather airport.

For a long time we have been the tallest dwarf but soon one of the dwarfs is going to grow and get really tall just like Singapore and become a true giant.

On branding they just signed a deal with PSG football club to target the French market . They already have Arsenal for the English market . They are looking for a good team in the Bundesliga and La Liga . Don’t be surprised if they signed up Bayern and Real Madrid then next stop is American Football and NBA and then Canada Hockey league. Why America and Canada ? These are the guys who can afford to pay the $1500 gorilla tracking fees. Rwanda is taking business segmentation to another level. They are not targeting any Tom, Dick or Harry.

Rwanda is not rich to afford such signings but they are sacrificing for a better bigger tommorow.

Now you know and as always I choose to remain an optimist .

Mohammed Hersi
Mombasa
Kenya

Now that the petition against the Mama Ngina Water Front Park board has been thrown out allow me to separate myths from facts .

Kenya Tourism Federation Chairman was one of the members appointed to the board. I happen to be the current Chairman of KTF. The rest of the board members are all various chairs including Mombasa Chamber of commerce & industry chairman amongst others. In 2021 In Sha Allah when my term as KTF Chair ends so will my personal tenure at MNWF.

The board includes the chief of staff Mombasa County.

*Myth No 1:* The park will be reserved for foreign tourists only and to get in people will be charged

*Fact:* Mama Ngina Waterfront MNWF will remain a free entry public park open to all without any discrimination. It is currently closed to allow the contractor to do final touches for your comfort and safety. We noticed several issues that would pose danger to users from uneven surface to open man holes and exposed electrical wires .

*Myth No 2* : The hawkers who used to trade at the old park will all be replaced with new ones . It was being argued that once the board is allowed to take over the facility, some local traders will be rendered destitute hence unable to maintain their families.

*Fact:* We have a list of 63 traders who used to be at the old Mama Ngina drive. We have 100 kiosks and one of the things we are finishing are those very kiosks. We are currently connecting power and water. It means all the 63 traders will get their space and 37 new ones. So it is one FAT lie that we plan to kick out the previous traders. We are NOT charging any fees for now to the kiosk owners and no one should ask you for any payment. We are focused on authenticity and variety. We also don’t want one long line of crisps and madafu sellers only. The remaining kiosk we shall be keen on new unique ideas . Hygiene will be paramount.

*Myth No 3* : The board is out to make money and plan to do deals

*Fact:* We have no such plans. As board members we are entitled to board allowance but we deliberately chose NOT to draw any allowance. We have NEVER taken a cent and we plan NOT to. It is our small way in giving back to society .We also DO NOT plan to go on time and money wasting useless benchmarkings trips Most of the ideas are freely available on the net and we are all well travelled and seen what the world has to offer. . If anything all we are doing is Pro Bono.

*Myth No 4:* Private developers have been allocated the land at MNWF

*Fact:* it was the case but not anymore. H.E The President handed over a title deed under the care of Ministry Of Tourism which is in the custody of CS Finance as public land . Rest assured 100% grabbers stand no chance.

*Myth No 5:* Only national museum has legal mandate over MNWF.

*Fact:* MNWF is public land which was wrestled away from the jaws of grabbers. I was partly involved as KAHC vice chairman when the debate was raging in late 90’s. All public land belongs to GOK. National museums have a few areas where they are protecting archaeological discoveries. On the other hand Ministry of Tourism and Hon Balala applied for finance to revamp the place. On the other hand Mombasa County are very much involved since the project belongs to Mombasa people hence Chief Of Staff is with us in the board. We cannot purport to isolate Mombasa County Goverment . Never.

Good people I want to confirm to you that as a board that was appointed to look after MNWF we mean well and we want to give you a world class venue that you will all be proud of.

I fully understand your suspicion considering that you have been short changed elsewhere in the past but trust me MNWF is in good hands. We have nothing to hide and no secret cards at play.

I hope I have clarified and if you have any further query please feel free to ask and I shall endeavour to answer .

As always I choose to remain an optimist

Mohammed Hersi
Chairman
Kenya Tourism Federation &
Board Member Mama Ngina Water Front Mombasa.

I rarely do a piece on a weekday but being a Friday please allow me to pen one and join me on a nostalgic trip.

A few weeks ago I met a chap who is my agemate but he comes from a rich family where the dad was a very senior goverment official. To this day they are wealthy .

I took time to give him a history of Kenya and how we had most facilities working . I told him that while we are forced to celebrate some overpriced SGR we indeed had the old railway that connected East Africa big time let alone Kenya .

I told him we even had a line to Nyanyuki to help ferry beef cattle for export via Konza and Athi River holding ground. Kenya was famous for live cattle export which is not easy to do .

We even had a railway line from Voi to Taveta . We even had KBS Mombasa to Taveta .

We had steamers on Lake Victoria. Families in Kisumu had folks in Bukoba , Entebbe or Mwanza.

Your cargo gets to Kisumu from Mombasa you load it onto water steamer across to Bukoba. Trade was huge . We had a proper working port in Kisumu.

Growing up in Marsabit I never saw a railway line but I knew there was a line that connected Nyahururu and Nakuru . Drawing railways connection in Kenya was part of our syllabus.

We even had a working very successful airline owned by Kenya Uganda and Tanzania before greed and one mad Idi Amin Dada self declared generals of all generals made us to divorce .

EU came to benchmark with East Africa on how an economic block can work .

We had working garment industries from Rivatex. Kicomi. Mountex . We had our meat canning factory in Kenya meat commission. Almost all household goods were manfacured in Kenya . We even assembled Sanyo radios made in Kenya.

My friend was left in awe . I was speaking to him like a bearded grey haired 90 years sage . Well while I went to ordinary school and managed to learn about our history my friend went to one of those ” fine” schools . Maybe they don’t get the opportunity to learn these things . I have no idea but I also loved history and geography.

For us to drool over a single line by the Chinese is really not a miracle . We had this and many more but looks like very few of us know about it or even remember it.

Health system worked where all hospitals were fully kitted and original medicine from Germany .Italy etc were prescribed.

We never had all these useless private health centres where majority are owned by goverment employed doctors selling drugs meant for public hospitals. Folks , private health centres is a clear sign of a broken system. It is NOT development.

Goverment schools all worked . I had the same books at Marsabit Primary school just like a child at Moi Avenue Primary school Nbi. We had no private schools all claiming to be academies save for community schools like Oshwal and Aga Khan . Again I repeat these many private schools proliferation is a clear sign of a broken system. It’s NOT development. Rwanda is doing the opposite . Fix goverment owned schools and the so called academies are shutting down .

In late 80’s, 90% of Nairobi had piped water , we drank to our fill straight from the tap and we were promised by year 2000 every home would have piped water. Nairobi is curenty getting water through trucks and Mikokotenis in 2019.

Folks I can go on and on. We may have been poor but the goverment of the day gave us dignity . Basic healthcare, education , water was in plenty. When basics are in place security takes care of itself.

I am sharing this to educate younger folks that Kenya was indeed a force to reckon with before the real thieves set in and made nonsense of a working system . Well I still remain optimistic that we can get our groove back but maybe not in my lifetime but I will do what I can in my small way.

Now you know and I wish you all a happy nostalgic weekend .

As always I choose to remain an optimist

Mohammed Hersi
Mombasa.

Fact. Wilson Airport is a very busy airport in this region from handling tourists to emergencies and cargo notably Miraa the stimulant headed for Somalia and Northern Kenya .

The stats on domestic tourism is all bullish hence we can no longer treat Wilson as a small airport. Looking at the domestic tourism says it all.

My focus is on Wilson and space . Let’s be fair , a very busy airport and its safety record has been quite good. Recent mishaps must be addressed in a objective way and I have no doubt in my mind that we are in good hands of KCAA.

One key challenge at Wilson is congestion.

3 things must happen .

1. I strongly recommend that Miraa exporters should now be asked to relocate and operate out of Isiolo where we have a pretty idle airport . It is a stone throw away to the Miraa growing area of Nyambene hills. In fact they can salute the farmers as they take off with the stimulant on its way to Somalia .

This single smart move will also remove those daredevil speeding cruisers to Nairobi.

It will also help the economy of both Isiolo and Meru . If we could move cargo to Embakasi and soon Naivasha let us also move the Miraa export base to Isiolo and in the process Wilson will get breathing space .

2. Move the myriad of flying schools to Malindi and also Isiolo. That will again help decongest Wilson and help spread business to other smaller towns .

3. Get rid of all the old junk aircrafts at Wilson. I am sorry Wilson is NOT a junkyard. Even JKIA is developing the same problem gaining ground with more and more abandoned aircrafts. They are even an eye sore.

Folks first things we can not handle both passengers and miraa in such a small place and security is also paramount.

This is practical and let us do it . They say Talk Is Cheap.

Well as always I choose to remain an optimist.

Mohammed Hersi
Chairman
Kenya Tourism Federation

Kenya Ferry Services connecting Mombasa to South Coast & Kwale County and then Tanzania is such a vital link.

On a busy day Kenya Ferry can handle 350,000 passengers and 6000 vehicles including oil tankers carrying fuel etc.

Sadly a mother and her daughter drowned a few weeks ago and it took 13 days to locate and get the bodies out. May their souls Rest In Peace.

Kenya Ferry Services is considered a state installation run by national goverment. Kenya Ferry Services falls under the expanded Ministry Of Transport , Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Planning. Keep in mind that all the airports and railways matters fall under this ministry including all the road network and projects . Then add Kenya Ports and Kenya Maritime . You tell me will Kenya Ferry Services get any attention in a crowded Ministry like this ?

Reality is that when an activity is far away from the heart of goverment there is less attention given to it . It is a fact that Kenya Ferry is the lesser cousin to the cash rich and bus Kenya Ports Authority. The only time you see attention on KFS is when buying a new ferry that is always shroudered in court cases or when a new board is appointed and a rare occurrence a few days ago when entire board was shown the door.

With devolution in place , where even hospitals are now under county governments I dare say that it’s now time Kenya Ferry Services was handed over to Mombasa County. Mombasa County have done well with matters health hence they can do more.

While Mombasa County has had its own challenges, I must point that Transport docket has been quite active and creative in sorting out issues from a walkable city to well managed traffic in peak hours by being ingenious with the same space we got. You can see the amount of passion they display , you can see tens of volunteers who are helping manage the traffic and most of them are people who have their own companies but volunteer to serve after their office hours. It only happens in Mombasa and for those of you attending Mashujaa Day you will see this volunteers on ground .

I am pretty sure Mombasa County will do far better in running the affairs of Kenya Ferry .

Mr President if it is one Executive order you can give at the Mashujaa day celebrations is to announce the transfer of this key facility dear to Mombasa to the people who host and use it on daily basis.

As always I choose to remain an optimist.

Mohammed Hersi

First posted on 9th June 2018 on my Facebook Timeline

While we are busy with our micro politics so much is happening around us and mainly driven by 42 year old new Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

In less than 90 days he has been able to achieve the following .

1. Released most of the political prisoners in Ethiopia. He has been to key regions in Ethiopia to share his vision and show them true genuine love and suddenly Ethiopia is on another level full of optimism.

2. He has been able to break the ice with Egypt on matters of waters of the Nile which is lifeline for the land of pharaohs.

3. He has visited all the key neighbouring countries including ours Kenya.

4. He has also managed to bring the warring factions of South Sudan together Salva Kir and Riek Machar

5. Then the major one was over the weekend , in one stroke Ethiopia dropped the claims to some territorial dispute and accepted to vacate the disputed land with Eriteria without any condition . Over the weekend he flew to Asmara and what an emotional visit for both countries.

Abiy Ahmed and Isaiah Afeworki have 30 years age gap. PM Abiy was only 17 when Eriteria PM took over . It’s clear age means nothing. Eriteria PM is 72.

This man Abiy has been able to achieve so much in less than 100 days without those never ending conferences and meetings . This is Execution redefined .

What does Eriteria peace deal mean ?

Well Eriteria has two deep ports which is now open for use to Ethiopia and by default Lamu will now be affected. They also have acess to Djibouti and he has just signed a deal with Berbera in self declared republic of Somaliland but again if we act and deliver Lamu port then Southern Ethiopia can still opt to use Lamu just like Arusha opting for Mombasa as opposed to Dar.

This man takes soft power to another level. His charisma and likeable personality is just out of this world . It is clear he is trusted by everyone and he is only 42. May Almighty God protect him , we need such young charismatic leadership in Africa.

He said he wants peace with Eriteria he did not waste time seeking for approval from some various countries. He went for the bulls eye. At this rate Nobel Peace Prize could come his way, I would not be surprised.

To Ethiopia and my friends like Addis Alemayehou , Dawit Bekele we wish you the very best of luck and It’s about time we brought you on board to join East African Community. Well abundance mentality dictates that when your neighbour thrives you also do well. We are happy for you and loads of love from your southern neighbours Kenya.

As always I choose to remain an optimist

Mohammed Hersi

To Kenya Railways .

I hope my note finds you in good health.

Firstly it is indeed quite a while that I wrote anything about Madaraka Express but the few trips I have had with you was nothing but joy.

Now I saw this notice and I wonder how you arrived at it, it is draconian rule that makes no sense at all and you rub already stressed Kenyans the wrong way.

The issue that must have triggered this notice is the image and post that has been circulating of drunk and disorderly passengers in the cabins. The debate is about alcohol and where is alcohol permitted when on board. The debate is not about food, we have young ones , we have the sick who have a condition like diabetes they must eat something. I cannot stand management that stir up everthing. It is nothing but incompetence.

What you should be addressing is purely about alcohol consumption and disorderly passengers.

Simple rule, limit the alcohol consumption to the bar cabin / coach. No alcohol consumption just like cigarette smoking should be allowed in the passenger cabin.

Kenya Railways Management please stop such moves that only make you look bad. You are now running a modern railway line and Kenyans are paying for it through the nose. Please modernise your thinking process.

Now to my fellow Kenyans,

I will be very honest with you , travelling on SGR is not a blank cheque to drink yourself silly and act mad. What makes you think that once you board a train you can act the way you want shouting obscenities without repercussions? If you want to do that then hire a bus all by yourself , you can do what you want to do there. You can choose to travel half naked in your hired bus. SGR is SHARED TRANSPORT. Get that into your head.

Firstly drinking and travelling don’t go together and any responsible traveller knows that very well. In case of an emergency how do you expect to be assisted when you cannot even keep your drunk head straight let alone your wobbly legs . You are slumped over the small table and spreading your legs and hands in all directions. If you are not asleep drooling you are busy making noise to the discomfort of other passengers and even worse babies and sick passengers . You must respect the space of others.

What makes you think that since you happen to be in a mob decorum no longer matters. If anything the management of KR have the right to offload you at next station until you sober up. Please get that very clear , being noisy and disruptive is NOT cool NI USHAMBA. How do you feel when the next day a clip or image of you is circulating on vast social media .Please do NOT forget that internet never forgets.

Decent and civilised people don’t drink themselves silly

To Kenya Railways be sensible and reasonable in your rules . This notice is rubbish and it makes no sense . Go correct it. Carrying my water bottle or sandwich or a young mother carrying food for her baby should NEVER be an issue.

Mohammed Hersi
Chairman
Kenya Tourism Federation