Hospitality Sector in Kilifi County in Crisis Over New SRC Regulations
Kilifi hotel industry representative Michael Mwiha addressing a joint media briefing held at Mawenzi Resort in Kilifi county. [Photo/Tobby Otum]
Investors in the hospitality industry in Kilifi county have pleaded with the government to shelve the implementation of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) Act on daily subsistence allowance for both state corporations and government ministries.
They urged the governments to reconsider the harmonization Act 2011 on a friendly basis.
Led by Mtwapa sub-county hotel industry representative Michael Mwiha they urged the SRC board to reconsider amending the Act which it has put in place.
Mwiha added they request the creation of a level playing field in the hotel industry arguing that the current Act is killing the industry in some regions while uplifting others in the business sector.
“At the moment the situation at the ground is not good or conducive for implementing the Act,” he pointed out.
He was addressing a joint media briefing held at Mawenzi Resort in Kilifi county.
The hotels and hospitality industry representative told the media the hotel facilities are likely to close down very soon and urged the government to suspend the implementation of the Act.
Mwiha, who was flanked by other hospitality industry stakeholders, told the media they are heading into a serious unemployment crisis in the sector and the government is losing in its revenue collection.
He pointed out the Act has led to the hospitality industry losing business. Mwiha said that investors in the hospitality industry were not given space and notice before the implementation of the Act.
The hotels and hospitality industry representative told the media the Act stipulates that daily subsistence allowance would only be paid to state corporations and government ministries which hold conferences less than 50 kilometers from their respective offices and not beyond that distance.
Mwiha added that their business in the sub county has largely been depending on parastatals and government ministries holding conferences in their hotel facilities.
He stressed that the SRC Act has denied business to their hotels and the hospitality industry.
The hospitality industry representative said the investors are on the verge of closing down their businesses due to the Act and their properties risk being auctioned due to failure in servicing their loans. 
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