Rebecca Miano commits to enacting reforms in short-stay accomodation sector

Tourism Cabinet Secretary nominee Rebecca Miano has committed to enacting reforms in the sector, particularly short-stay rental apartments, to cushion them against exploitation by criminals.

Speaking during her vetting exercise on Saturday, the nominee and former Trade Cabinet Secretary, Rebecca Miano, admitted that there are policy and legal gaps in the sector that are creating loopholes that are aiding criminal activities in the apartments.

"If approved, I will ensure that this area is also a priority in consultations with other arms of government, agencies, and ministries that have a stake in this. We finalise the strategy, the regulations, and any legislative and policy agenda required so that we tidy up that space that is currently untidy, getting into security issues and all manner of things," she said.

Earlier this year, several incidents ignited a public uproar over the security of short-stay accommodations, prompting the security agencies to take action, some of which saw the Directorate of Criminal Investigations set up a crack unit against femicide in the country.

Rita Waeni, a JKUAT student, was murdered in mid-January at a short-stay rental apartment along TRM Drive in Kasarani, Nairobi—one of at least 16 femicide incidents recorded in Kenya in January.

Her body parts were dumped in a dustbin, and her head was found days later inside a dam on the outskirts of the city.

In January, the ministry said it would conduct a thorough review of the existing regulations of the Tourism Regulatory Authority in response to recent incidents involving rental apartments.

The review followed a rise in femicide happening at the short-stay accommodation that pushed the Ministry of Interior to tighten its grip on safety measures through new directives, among them: maintaining a current and accurate log of all vehicles entering and/or departing from the facilities within the jurisdiction of a private security service provider; a register of all private security officers providing private security services at the facilities; and ensuring that the CCTV and security cameras are in proper working condition and the recording of footage is up-to-date.

Tourism CS nominee Rebecca Miano arrives in Parliament, where she appeared before the National Assembly’s Committee on Appointments on Saturday, August 3, 2024. (Photo: Parliament)

During the same period, Airbnb, the United States-based platform that enables online promotion of short-term homestays and experiences, distanced itself from the accommodations where two middle-aged women met with the murder of Waeni and socialite Starlet Wahu in South B, Nairobi.

Wahu was allegedly stabbed to death by her lover, John Matara.

"As a business built on trust, safety issues on Airbnb are incredibly rare, and we implement measures to maintain safety on the platform in Kenya,” said the San Francisco-based company.

“The properties in which these crimes took place did not have reservations booked on Airbnb for the dates reported,” it further stated, adding that “we do not have accounts registered to the names of the accused.”

However, the prominence of Airbnb in Kenya has seen many people refer to short-stay rental apartments as Airbnb, even after the clarification.

Miano further noted that delays in the ministry in keeping up the sector with global best practices have seen some of its sub-sectors lag in their growth.

One is the short-stay accommodation sector, which she noted is still struggling to catch up with what is happening elsewhere and trying to manoeuvre issues that come up.

"The case of Airbnb is a classic example of where an industry is overtaken by the growth of the industry. I will not hesitate to say that because we have research institutions and organisations dealing with tourism, they must be on top of the game with what is happening and the contemporary changes so that, as a country, we keep up, we foresee, and we prepare ourselves," said Miano.

At the same time, she said she will, as a matter of priority, hasten the classification of hotels and leisure facilities in the country that has been pending for the last five to six years.

"If I am approved, I will undertake to conclude the work that is pending on classification so that we have an objective classification system that has integrity and that will enable our hotels to compete globally and even maybe be included in some of the chains because of the classification," she said.