The Royal visit of King Charles III and Queen Camilla at the coast has spiced up the tourism sector attracting an unprecedented number of tourists visiting Mombasa as preparations to welcome them begin in earnest.

The visit which has coincided with the closure of schools has spiced up both local and international tourism as more visitors have started trooping to Mombasa for leisure as the long holiday break begins.
Several civil society organisations in collaboration with the Mombasa county government have embarked on beach clean-up to keep the beaches clean and away from plastic pollution.

The exercise targets to preserve the marine ecosystem and subsequently ensure that marine economy thrives free from pollution threats.

At the Jomo Kenyatta public beach yesterday, it was a beehive of activities as beach operators and civil society groups joined hands to keep the beach clean.

Speaking on the side-lines of the clean-up exercise at the pirates Beach, Mombasa County chief executive committee member (CECM) Lands, Urban Planning and Housing Department Mohamed Hussein called for a clean ocean to preserve marine ecosystems.

Beach operators

“We have done clean up in Nyali beach, the Jomo Kenyatta beach and we want to ensure we replicate that in all our beaches,” said Hussein who was in the company of beach operators and environmentalists.

Hussein said the festive season and long school holidays normally attract many tourists thus calling for a collaborative approach to ensure a clean Mombasa as a tourism hub and a centre for maritime economy.

“We want to ensure our beaches are clean because it’s a very important resource, we need to preserve them because they are a key component of the tourism sector,” said Hussein after participating in the clean-up at the Pirates beach.

The beach cleanup exercise was organised by Mtopanga River Conservation CBO, Pirates business operators, Mombasa county and Haki Africa human rights organisation at the Jomo Kenyatta Public Beach (Pirates) To help help in improving the image of the beach and also protect Marine Life from solid waste pollution and its effects.

On her part Haki Africa human rights organisation deputy executive director Salma Hemed said the objective is to caution beach goers to keep the environment safe for marine life.

“We want to ask Kenyans to be observant on ocean safety as well, we want to ensure that guests who visit here don’t pollute the environment,” said Hemed.

On safety for the beaches Hemed said as an organismtion they will partner with authorities to ensure tourists who visit Mombasa feel safe and enjoy their visits.

“We also want beach management units empowered and sensitised to continue managing our beaches, they should be empowered because they make a living from here,” she said.