Former Deputy President and Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) leader Rigathi Gachagua has urged foreign tourists to suspend visits to Kenya until 2027 over what he termed as a "security crisis" under President William Ruto's administration.
Gachagua made the remarks while addressing a church congregation on Sunday, where he accused the government of failing to tackle insecurity and alleged that criminal gangs were operating with the backing of senior state officials.
"We have a security crisis in the country where the Minister in charge of security and the PS are in charge of goons and insecurity...We are approaching anarchy where people will take arms to protect themselves against government and government goons."
He went on to claim that even foreign visitors are no longer safe, urging them to delay travel plans until after the next General Election.
"It is my duty as a leader of this country to say, even our tourists, they are not safe in this country; there are just too many goons everywhere, and because we don't want to destroy our tourism sector, I want to call upon tourists to suspend their visit to Kenya until next year, we get done with this administration, then they can come."
Read More
Besides tourists, Gachagua also advised foreign investors to keep away from Kenya for the time being, arguing that insecurity has made the country's business environment unpredictable.
Gachagua's remarks come against the backdrop of a series of incidents in which suspected goons have disrupted public and political events across the country.
A few weeks ago, suspected goons invaded a public budget accountability forum at All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi, disrupting discussions attended by civil society groups, religious leaders, lawyers and members of the public.
More recently, violence erupted outside St. Stephen's ACK Cathedral in Kisumu during a church service attended by Siaya Governor James Orengo and Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, leaving one person dead and several others injured.
On the same day in Nyahururu, Murang'a Governor Irungu Kang'ata claimed his driver was shot after chaos emerged at their meeting in the area.
