Villas on spot over child sex tourism

Story by MAZERA NDURYA
Publication Date: 6/29/2007
The Nation

All foreigners will be required to state their residential addresses before being allowed entry into Kenya.

This, the Government says, will help in monitoring their activities and ensure that all relevant licences and business permits are paid.

Unlicensed villas and private houses, spread in most parts of the Coast Province, were being used by cartels to lure and exploit girls sexually, Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Martha Karua said yesterday.

“The Government will now be working with countries of origin of tourists to assist in monitoring their own tourist industry and to prosecute agents who market destinations for sex tourism,” she said.

She was addressing hoteliers at the Sarova Whitesands Hotel in Mombasa during the Kenya Association of Hotel Keepers and Caterers annual symposium.

She was presenting a paper on eradication of child sex tourism in Kenya.

On the increase

Ms Karua said that despite the enactment of various laws including the Penal Code, the Children’s Act and Sexual Offences Act, cases of children being exploited sexually were on the increase.

“I call upon our police officers and the members of the public not to protect people who are exploiting the children,” she said.

Hoteliers had asked the Government to crack the whip on unlicensed villas and private houses, saying they were being used for illegal activities.

They said the war on child sex tourism would not be won if law enforcers slackened in monitoring the activities of the private houses.

Tourism and Wildlife minister Morris Dzoro said the ministry was in the final stages of finalising the drafting of the Tourism Bill which, he said, would further protect the industry from negative impacts.

“We will soon have a validation workshop for the Bill where stakeholders will be allowed to go through it and ensure that all the views were captured because it is important that such issues like sexual exploitation of children and environmental degradation were adequately covered,” he said.

Still unhappy

The chairperson of the association, Ms Lucy Karume, said they were still unhappy with the poor state of infrastructure and the low funding the Government gave to the development of the tourism industry.

All foreigners will be required to state their residential addresses before being allowed entry into Kenya.

I am not sure how this will effect the average tourist. When one fills out a Kenya visa application you have to give your address, country, husband's/wife's name and a lot of other information as well as your destination in Kenya including places you will be staying .

Perhaps it is being aimed at those that don't need a visa to enter the country.

And how will someone in Nairobi government knowing your address help stem child sex tourism? Does anyone have any insight into this?

jan,
you are right! these means are not the right ones to prevent these people from doing what they are doing!
in case you travel to kenya to different places and state "northern safari circuit" e.g. nobody asks additional questions and one gets the visa. obviously this answer is sufficient.
i guess there are government officials who shift from big issues, which cannot be solved by them, to small ones which is suitable to show "some kind of action" in order to make the public think that they are doind at least something .
in my view very very "window dressing".........
we know that from european governments and politicians

This is a way for the government ot control which companies have licenses and which not - villas are mainly cash in hand or payment is foreign bank accounts.... This "helps" to reduce those not paying VAT, Taxs and declaring proper income.
I have to declare similar issues in my business - but for controlling sex abuse; I cannot see what use this will be at all. Perhaps to show that they are doing something about it!

Nico:

Interesting point. I hadn't even thought of the taxation issue.

The only way I can think it might help with the sex issure is if someone claimed they were raped, at least the government would know the country and home address of the perpetrator who had been renting a villa. However, I doubt if the arm of the Kenyan law would reach as far as Germany, France, U.S.