Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung'aro, his deputy Flora Chibule and Kilifi assembly speaker Catherine Kenga during Jamhuri Day celebrations on December 12, 2025 /KNAThe government on Friday directed holidaymakers to stay away from public beaches in Kilifi county after 6 pm until the end of the year.
This is meant to curb insecurity and drowning incidents that often occur during festive seasons in coastal towns.
Speaking at Gede Comprehensive School in Malindi subcounty
during Jamhuri Day celebrations, county commissioner David Wanyonyi warned
tidal waves become stronger and more unpredictable at night, posing serious
risks to beachgoers.
“From today until the end of the festive season, no one will be allowed on the beaches after 6 pm because tidal waves tend to be more boisterous from that time,” he said after reading the presidential speech.
Wanyonyi said closing the beaches early will also help protect residents from insecurity that often occurs due to the large crowds.
The administrator directed chiefs and their assistants to crack down on narcotics and illicit brew, saying those found complicit in the vices would face disciplinary action.
Wanyonyi urged all leaders at the national and county levels to work collaboratively to end cases of teenage pregnancies, saying he was perturbed by reports that some teenage candidates had been forced to sit their national examinations in maternity wards after getting pregnant.
“There is no certificate for early pregnancies. Our children, especially girls, must be protected and allowed to pursue education for a better future,” he stressed.
Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung’aro urged the national government to expedite the dualling of the Mombasa-Malindi highway and the expansion of the Malindi Airport to attract more tourists to the county.
This, he said, would be in line with this year’s Jamhuri Day theme - Tourism, Wildlife and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions).
“Last year alone, Kilifi welcomed more than 500,000 local and international tourists, a population that exceeds the number of people residing in Malindi and Kilifi towns. This is a 15 per cent increase from the number of tourists recorded the previous year,” Mung’aro said.
He said the county was emerging as a conducive hub for conference tourism with the commissioning of the Kilifi Convention Centre and a new conference centre at a popular hotel in Kikambala.
He said 40 per cent of tourists who visited the county did so for conferences such as the Essence of Africa Tourism Conference and the Uganda-Kenya Coast Tourism Conference and Exhibition, both held in October this year in Malindi.
