Helsinki-Thursday- A top Kenyan tourism official has been forced to resign after he was implicated in a 350,000 euros an equivalent to Kshs 35million corruption scandal facing the tourism sector. He is among senior bureaucrats who are under investigation for graft allegations, Kenya’s minister for Tourism Najib Balala said Thursday.

Dr Achieng Ong’ong’a, head of Kenya's Tourism Board, handed over his resignation letter to the Tourism minister paving way for further investigation. He is accused of irregular payments of up to 35 million and flauting the Public Procurement and Disposal Act while awarding contracts.

He is linked to a scheme of irregular pay offs to comapnies associated to him and other directors of the Tourism Board.

Dr Achieng who faces imprisonment if found guilty, is renowned for revamping the sector after years of recording a downward spiral in the sector. Dr Achieng was interdicted on December 1, last year, and forced to go on compulsary leave. The ministry’s National Audit Office and the Efficiency Monitoring Office is investigating the allegations.

The Kenya Anti-Corruption Agency is also likely to take up the matter after a formal complain is made to it.

Investigations are still ongoing, and the officials have not been charged.
President Kibaki has pledged to clamp down on the country's widespread corruption when he came into power in 2003, but critics said the recent cases are merely the tip of the iceberg and claim that many other guilty senior officers in government departments remain free as corruption costs the country millions of shillings in loses.

Among the allegations aganist the Tourism Board includes a one-day trip to the famous Masai mara tourist resort by President Mwai Kibaki to promote tourism following post-election slump. The visit is said to have costed KShs20 million.
Another allegation surrounds the single sources of an out door advertisement company which was to carry out advertisement on behalf of KTB for which it had been paid Sh35 million for work that was never done.

Mr. Duncan Muriuki of Maniago Safaris has dismissed allegations surrounding the Kshs 20 million allegedly paid for the President’s tour.

“The money was never paid to us. And am glad that the one-week tourism promotion in the Mara attended by President Mwai Kibaki succeded in achieving its intended objectives to restore public confidence in the sector after weeks of election-violence which had affected the sector”

Prior to the December 2007 political unrest, Kenya had enjoyed a huge boost in tourism over the past five years. In 2007 it welcomed more than two million visitors and tourism revenue accounted for 65.4 billion Kenyan shillings – approximately $1 billion. This was registered as the most impressive record.

The KTB had predicted the first three months of 2008 would see a monthly increase of 15%, with 315,000 people visiting the country during the first quarter. This was not possible due to the current political turbulence which accounted for a drop of almost 73%.

The current allegations of corruption and high-handedness is not likely to compromise efforts to promote tourism and increase travels to Kenya by foreign tourists.

“The Kenya Tourism Board has achieved alot and the current allegations aganist it will not affect its track record. The sector is prided for having registered an increase in the number of tourists in the recent years”. Said Mr. Duncan Muriuki, Director of Maniago Safaris.

Meanwhile, Kenya’s Tourism Minister, has appointed a care-taker to oversee the Tourism Board warning that corruption in the public service has undermined developement in the tourism sector in the past and will not be tolerated.