Najib Balala is a Kenyan politician who is the current Cabinet Secretary for Tourism, and the immediate former Member of Parliament for Mvita Constituency, Mombasa County. Najib is the party leader of The Republican Congress Party of Kenya (RC) which is a partner of the Jubilee Coalition.
Age
Najib was born on 20th September, 1967, in the port city of Mombasa County.
Wife
Najib got married to Naja Balala and the two are blessed with four adorable children.
Education
Balala attended his primary school at Serani Boys where he qualified and went to Kakamega High, a national school. Najib later studied Business Administration and International Urban Management and Leadership from the University of Toronto, Canada and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
Political Career
Najib began his political career as the mayor of Mombasa, thereafter Najib successfully vied for the Mvita parliamentary seat in 2002. Before vieing for MP seat, he has served as the vice-chairman Kenya Tourism Board (KTB), Chairman of All Local Government Association of Kenya and Chairman of Mombasa and Coast Tourist Association. Balala has been the longest serving Minister for Tourism, that’s from the January 2008 to 26 March 2012 when he got sacked through a reshuffle of cabinet. Then Najib formed The Republican Congress Party of Kenya (RC) in April, 2012, that became a principle partner in the Jubilee Coalition along with the President Kenyatta of TNA, William Ruto of URP and Charity Ngilu of NARC.
He revoked the licenses issued in the previous government as cabinet secretary of mining. Najib has been maliciously accused of corruption by one company Cortec Mining of requesting a bribe of nearly one million dollars for the re-issuing of the license. The Minister has made Kenya an attractive investment destination by revoking licenses.
Awards
-Silver Star (SS) Medal By President
-Elder of Golden Heart (EGH) Medal By President
-Africa Investor 2009.
-Best African Minister for Tourism 2010.
-Vice-President UNWTO World Tourism Organization
-Chairman UNWTO World Tourism Organization.
