20/04/2020
Kenya Utalii College & Hotel: Government Must Take Responsibility for Sorry State of Utalii.
As a follow up to my earlier post, following CS Najib Balala's knee-jack action to close Utalii Hotel, I wish to clarify a few points.
1. The Swiss government helped establish and ably manage the college and hotel between 1979 and 1983.
2. Utalii College was then a prestigious, professionally managed hospitality training institution respected throughout Africa. It attracted students from all African nations. Many senior mangers running hotels and other hospitality institutions in Africa are alumni of Utalii.
3. By the time the Swiss left (1983) Utalii they had nurtured a clear succession plan to ensure a smooth transition and continuity.
4. The College and hotel was left in the able and professional hands of hospitality managers, among them Mr. M'MBui, Mr Mwakai Sio, Mr. Thomas S. Dudah, Mr. Wilson Osoro, who successfully managed the institution, kept very high standards and collaborated with international partners to maintain training standards. Many are the management students who, in their final year of study, were attached to the best hotels and institutions in Europe, especially France and Switzerland, courtesy of the immediate post-Swiss Kenyan managers.
5. Things started going South in the year 2002. This is the time the Kenya government started interfering with management of the college, appointing non-professionals as CEO and Board members purely of political considerations. The college was starved of funds. Professionals were demotivated, sidelined and pushed to peripheral handiman duties.
With all due respect to CS Najib Balala, his action of closing Utalii Hotel, a vital component of the College, was based on misguided advice and judgement. He did not consult the Utalii Board of management. He did not consult hospitality professionals like Mwakai Sio and T.S. Dudah.
Mr Balala did not refer to the history of Utalii and find out the root causes of the challenges facing the college. Had he done so, he would have learnt that GoK is the cause of all problems at Utalii. All blame lies at the government's door steps.
CS Balala must go back to his office, check records, consult professional stakeholders and managers and rescind his misguided decision. The CS must not be the mortician but the physician that Utalii needs.
Although tourism fortunes have declined since the late 90s, Utalii College remains the most important cog in the wheel that runs the industry.
Utalii College must never die. It must be resuscitated and improved to continue training the much need manpower for the hospitality industry.