Blow after court quashes laws hiking tourism fees at the Coast

The government has suffered a blow after the High Court quashed gazette notices to increase tourism charges in Mombasa and Kilifi.

Justice Mugure Thande found that the Ministry of Tourism should have consulted the locals before coming up with the new regulations spelling out new charges last year.

“A declaration be and is hereby made that the Wildlife Conservation and Management (Access and Conservation) (Fees) Regulations, 2023 published by the 2nd Respondent via Legal Notice No. 215 are illegal and unconstitutional for want of effective public participation and public consultation as required under the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, the Statutory Instruments Act, 2013 and the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act,” ruled Justice Mugure.

In the case, at least 24 organisations and private individuals sued the ministry, Kenya Wildlife Services and Attorney General. They also cited Mombasa and Kilifi County governments as interested parties.

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The group led by Watamu Tourism Organisation argued that implementation of the fees was illegal as they were usurping the powers of the county governments.

The judge heard that Malindi, Watamu and Mombasa conservation areas are under the control and management of their respective county governments and therefore the National Government had no role in determining how much tourists should pay.

The ministry opposed the case. It argued that the charges were meant to help in conservation and management of wildlife and its habitat.

The court heard that the ministry had also sought to align the charges with government policies to address inflation, arising economic factors and conservation challenges such as human-wildlife conflict.

However, the Judge said that the regulations introduced new issues and fees, which had not been discussed previously. She noted that security, annual license fees based on the classification of businesses by size and fees for activities like photography had not been subjected to public participation.