Balala revokes Pauline Njoroge’s appointment after uproar over old FB post
They say the internet never forgets.
This reality has dawned on popular Jubilee blogger Pauline Njoroge after Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala on Saturday revoked her appointment to the Tourism Board over an old Facebook post.
Balala replaced her with KTN journalist Najma Ismael.
Her revocation comes barely 24 hours after she had been appointed for a tenure of three years effective August 7, 2020.
Her appointment on Friday did not go down well with Kenyans online after her past social media posts about Nairobi National Park where she advocated for it to be developed went viral.
In her Facebook post Ms Njoroge argued that the park could be abolished and the land put into “better and more profitable use”.
“The only selling point of that park is that it’s “The only National park in a capital city in the world” beyond that glamorous title, what else does it offer? The orphanage and the nature walk make economic sense but the park?! It does not make sense that in a congested city like Nairobi we can afford to have acres and acres of land in the name of a park when this is literally bursting at the seams with people… We even have to hold discussions on re-routing the SGR so as to save a park that is economically redundant,” she posted.
While cancelling the appointment, CS Balala said at the time, the ministry was unaware of Njoroge’s stand on the value of the park.
In a statement, Saturday, August 8, CS Balala said he had revoked Njoroge’s appointment to the Tourism body, and replaced her with Najma.
“The Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, Najib Balala, has revoked with immediate effect the appointment of Pauline Njoroge as a Board member of the Tourism Regulatory Authority,” reads the statement.
“I am revoking Pauline Njoroge’s appointment as a Board member of the Tourism Regulatory Authority because we have just seen what she had tweeted in the past that Nairobi National Park was useless. We do not want to be associated with such people and such thinking,” said the CS.
“We regret we did not know what she had said in the past. We want to take this opportunity to thank Kenyans on social media for highlighting what we had missed during our background check on her.”
“Pauline Njoroge’s appointment to the Tourism Regulatory Authority Board is revoked with immediate effect, and her position is replaced with Najma Ismail,” he added.
She had welcomed her appointment promising to have discussions on all matters.
“We have walked this journey together on this wall, and in one way or another you have all contributed to what I have become. Your continued support is part of what keeps me going and you are therefore important to me and all your opinions matter, even when we may disagree on various positions from time to time,” she said
“We shall continue conversing and any concern that has been raised or will be raised (yes, even that one), we shall address as the days go by.”
But her joy was short-lived.
Ms Njoroge is popular in Jubilee circles having endeared herself to top decision-makers during the 2013 and 2017 general elections.