Kenya kidnap attacks by Somalis drive terrified tourists out of paradise islands

Britain and US advise travellers to avoid Lamu after woman’s abduction – drying up tourism and forcing hotels to lay off staff It has always been one of the most peaceful places in Kenya, and perhaps the most beautiful too – a Swahili island paradise of warm, deep-blue water, golden sands and ancient, narrow streets where cars are banned and donkeys rule. Even the commute from Lamu’s airport is spectacular, with wooden motorboats ferrying tourists to their hotels in the Old Town or further along the beach. But now the traffic is nearly all one way. “Few people coming,” said Mohamed Lali, 50, a boat captain wearing a faded T-shirt and a wrap. “Only people leaving.” The reason is fear. On Saturday morning a 66-year-old disabled French woman was kidnapped from her beach house in the Lamu archipelago by Somali gangsters who bundled her into a speedboat and escaped to mainland Somalia. The attack came two weeks after a British woman was abducted while on holiday further up the coast in Kiwayu, close to the Somali border. Her husband was killed. She is still missing. Following this weekend’s kidnapping several foreign governments immediately changed their travel advice. Britain and the US, which provide the biggest number of tourists to Kenya, warned their citizens to stay away from Lamu, as did France. At a stroke, the tourism sector here was shattered. Some guests took the first flight home. Others shortened their stays and cancellations poured in. At Lamu House, a high-end hotel on the Old Town seafront, there were 12 cancellations on Tuesday. Only one of the 10 rooms was occupied – by an expat couple on leave from their posts in Somalia. The hotel’s 45 staff members had gathered next to the swimming pool, listening to the Belgian owner, Frank Feremans. “I had to let half of them go,” he said, his eyes red with tears. “This is going to be a hard time for the people here.” Some hotels have shut altogether, especially on Manda island, where the French woman was kidnapped. Across the water in Shela, a village where super-wealthy Europeans, including Prince Albert of Monaco, own spectacular Swahili-style mansions, hotels have beefed up security. At Peponi Hotel, where the cheapest single room goes for £150, three armed police officers now keep watch at night, along with two watchmen on boats moored in front of the hotel. Lars Korschen, the owner, said there had been numerous cancellations, and though he had not yet laid off any of his 120 employees, the hotel was “way overstaffed”. “I can’t blame the governments for telling tourists not to come,” he said. “If it [the kidnapping] has happened twice, it could happen again.” The Kenyan authorities have been embarrassed by the kidnapping in Lamu. Though few locals had believed that the Somali kidnappers would be so brazen as to launch an attack here, there is a feeling that police were complacent. One hotel manager, who asked not to be named, said police had assured hotel owners after the Kiwayu kidnapping that security forces in Lamu were “on high alert, with all measures taken”. But even though there is a naval base in Lamu, the kidnappers were able to escape to Somalia, several hours away by boat. Two Kenyan naval officers drowned during the pursuit after their boat capsized. “The boats were not ready and the officers were not trained well,” the hotel manager said. Chastened, the Kenyan government sent the tourism minister and police chief to Lamu to try to allay fears of further attacks on tourists by Somali gangsters. Several police boats were in Lamu harbour on Tuesday, and a police aircraft waited on the airstrip. Fredrick Karenga, the district tourist officer, said a police helicopter would be stationed in town from now on, and officers were already positioned along the various coastal entry points to the main tourist areas. “We will not let Lamu die. We have learned our lesson and there will be no repeat,” Karenga said. But that is little consolation for Abdillahi Abubakar, a tour guide who has seen his business disappear overnight. It will be several months, and possibly much longer, before business returns to normal. But his loss has not been purely financial. “This place has always been peaceful. Everyone knew each other so we did not need police or much security. That’s how it was,” he said. Kenya Africa Somalia Piracy at sea Tourism, transport and travel Xan Rice guardian.co.uk

Posted by on October 4, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.