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{
    "id": 744296,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/744296/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 902,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Eng.) Gumbo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 24,
        "legal_name": "Nicholas Gumbo",
        "slug": "nicholas-gumbo"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. Before I even contribute, allow me to thank my brother and friend, Hon. Aden Keynan, for the excellent work that he has done at the PIC. I have had the privilege of serving with him in this Parliament and in the last Parliament. Without trying to please anybody, I think he has been one of the hardest working Chairmen. I remember in the last Parliament, he did a very famous report on the Tokyo Embassy. He has grown old a little bit. Then, he was very passionate. He did not even need the mics and you could hear him from Uhuru Highway. I thank Hon. Keynan and his team. The Committee has done a very wonderful job. Tourism holds a great promise for our country. I want to believe that the idea to put up a second Utalii College is a good one. But the problem with our country is that we conceive very good projects, with very noble intentions that are intended to make this country move forward, but unfortunately, somewhere along the line, vested interests take root and we start thinking about benefits that will accrue to individuals as opposed to communal benefits. Then the whole objective is lost. I am hoping that the 2017 elections will for once produce leaders who by and large will pursue the communal interests. Of course, we all have personal interests that we have to pursue, but I want to believe that leadership is a calling. Some of the leaders that have made the greatest changes in their countries in the world are the selfless leaders that have put the interest of the society way ahead of personal interests. Why do I say this? The issue of tourists and tourism in Kenya, we have tended to believe that unless we see some white man somewhere, or a Chinese or Japanese, then that is not tourism. I remember an incident about 16 years ago when I took my family to the then Mombasa Beach Hotel. We were sitting there having come from Ngulia Lodge in Tsavo West and a group of white people asked us: Are you also here as tourists? In their minds, we were not supposed to be tourists. This is the paradigm that we must change. Kenya now has a fast expanding middle class. I am told by the estimates from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the middle-class population in Kenya today could well be standing at between four to seven million people. That is a big potential for tourism. The biggest spenders in any society are not the upper or lower classes, but the middle class who, in more ways than one, usually have impulsive spending habits. In fact, sometimes the middle class is known to compare their success by how impulsively they can spend their newly acquired wealth. I think it is time we started growing the tourism sector. While I do not say that we should stop encouraging foreigners from visiting our country, Kenya has some of the most beautiful features you can think of. There are countries in this world that attract millions of tourists as a result of man-made features. The other day I was in the UK and given the number of people who visit the Buckingham Palace. I was in France and was given the number of people that visit the Eiffel Tower. These are man-made features. They cannot have as much attraction as natural features that we have in this country. If we promote the wildebeest migration, how many Kenyans in this country have had a chance to go to the Mara to witness the 7th wonder of the world? This can only happen if we can incentivise the middle class so that we can have some sort of tax rebate. It is possible. It is doable. Now that we have two levels of government, what is lacking in promoting tourism in this country is just a little bit of creativity and incentives to make The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}