Najib Balala: Kenya’s Longest Reigning Minister for Tourism

Kenyan politician Najib Balala is the current Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and immediate former Member of Parliament for Mvita Constituency.

He is the leader of the Republican Congress Party of Kenya (RC), a member of the Jubilee Coalition.

Early Life and Family

Balala was born on September 20, 1967, in the port city of Mombasa County.

He is married to Naja Balala, with whom he shares four children.

Education

He attended Serani Boys Primary School after which he enrolled in Kakamega High School.

After his secondary school education, the Cabinet Secretary for Tourism attended University of Toronto in Canada where he obtained a degree in International Urban Management.

He also attended The Executive Program for Leaders in Development at Harvard University.

Politics

Balala started his political career at the age of 30, becoming Mombasa City’s youngest mayor from 1998 to 1999.

He then moved on to serve as the Member of Parliament for Mvita after clinching the seat in the general election of 2002. He served for a single term.

He would then be named Minister for National Heritage & Culture from 2004 to 2005 and Minister for Gender, Sports, Culture & Social Services from 2003 to 2004. During his tenure, he promoted local community empowerment, local cultural heritage, and the preservation of Swahili culture in the same office.

Balala returned to the Cabinet in 2008, under Late President Mwai Kibaki, in the Tourism docket following the post-election violence in 2007. He worked in this particular ministry up until 2012.

He received recognition as Africa’s top tourism minister throughout his five years in office. In 2009, he was also chosen to lead the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

In 2013, Balala unsuccessfully ran for the Mombasa Senatorial seat under the Kenyan Republican Congress Party.

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta would, however, appoint him the first Minister for Mining, where he delivered a Mining Bill Draft in 2014, the first policy and institutional framework review of Kenya’s mining sector since 1940. 

In 2015, the former head of state reappointed him to his position as Minister of Tourism.

The 55-year-old in 2022 said that his next move would be to join the next administration and continue serving Kenyans.

Balala has served as Minister for Tourism for an accumulative 12 years.