The parliamentary committee on tourism has castigated the management of Nairobi’s Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) over what it considers poor treatment during a recent inspection tour of the conference facility.
The committee says its members were forced to cancel the inspection after a low-key reception by the KICC management led by CEO Nana Gecaga.
Ms Gecaga is President Uhuru Kenyatta’s niece.
“Ms Gecaga appeared ill-prepared for the visit despite having been notified by the Clerk of the National Assembly two weeks prior to the visit,” Mwingi West MP Charles Nguna, who is a member of the National Assembly Committee on Sports, Tourism and Culture, said.
“The members struggled to find their way into the building and to the CEO’s boardroom only to find her missing. They waited for about 30 minutes before she surfaced casually dressed in jeans trousers and a T-shirt on a weekday and seemed unbothered by the MPs’ presence.”
Committee chairman Victor Munyaka told Ms Gecaga that the meeting would not proceed since she appeared ill-prepared for it.
Just the previous week, President Kenyatta had told off Nana’s brother, Jomo Gecaga, in Namibia for not being serious during a meeting with Kenyans in the diaspora.
“I have a long-serving PA here. He is also just staring at people. He is looking at his watch instead of writing what people are saying,” he added.
Uhuru went on to state that the team relied on him to remember what was said at various meetings. In instances where the president couldn’t recall, then the information would be gone with the wind since no one bothered to take notes.