Ronald Ngala Utalii College to open doors in September after 12-year wait

Ronald Ngala Utalii College to open doors in September after 12-year wait

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Addis Standard

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The institution will offer diploma and short-term courses in hospitality, catering, housekeeping, seafaring and management.

The Ronald Ngala Utalii College in Kilifi County will officially admit its first cohort of 1,000 students on September 1, marking the operationalisation of the long-awaited tourism training institution more than a decade after its construction began.
This was announced by Tourism Principal Secretary Julius Bitok on Thursday, who declared the college 95 per cent ready to receive students, with final works being fast-tracked ahead of the opening.
“I can confirm that we are 95 per cent ready to welcome the first cohort of 1000 students on September 1. We have the necessary arrangements in place to make this a reality,” he said while on a tour of the facility on Thursday.
Tourism PS Julius Bitok at the Ronald Ngala Utalii College on July 23, 2026. (Photo: Courtesy)
The institution will offer diploma and short-term courses in hospitality, catering, housekeeping, seafaring and management, and is expected to strengthen Kenya’s tourism workforce while supporting the government‘s target of attracting five million international visitors annually by 2028.
At the same time, once fully developed, Bitok said the 40-acre campus designed as an advanced model of the Utalii College will have the capacity to accommodate 4,000 students.

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The PS regretted the long delay in its operationalisation and added that the government was contemplating inviting an investor under public-private-partnerships (PPP) to expedite the opening of the hotel that will also offer practical training to learners.
Notably, the college’s opening is expected to create at least 1,000 direct and indirect jobs and boost the host community’s economy.
It will also complement the Kenyan tourism sector’s drive to double the annual number of tourists into the country.
“We are committed to ensuring that we build capacity for tourism and hospitality. The opening will go a long way in ensuring that we meet our target of five million tourists by 2028,” the PS added.
A section of Ronald Ngala Utalii College. (Photo: Courtesy)
Kilifi County Governor Gideon Mung’aro said the opening of the college will be good news for job seekers eyeing the blue economy and who need relevant certification.
“We have had issues as agents come here to recruit seafarers. The last time I had a big team who wanted 600 people, but they went with only 59 due to a lack of certification,” the governor said.
The two further appealed to leaders to refrain from utterances that could harm the tourism industry.
“We urge leaders to weigh their words when they are talking about tourism as it is a very delicate product. What we’ve built in 10 years can be destroyed in a single day by a reckless statement,” said the governor.

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