Editor's Review

  • Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong'o clapped back at Tourism CS Najib Balala after the Minister claimed unsuccessfully tried to get in touch with the Hollywood star for five years now.

Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong'o has clapped back at CS Najib Balala after the Minister claimed they unsuccessfully tried to get in touch with the Hollywood star for five years now.

In a tweet on Friday, Lupita shared a photo of herself laughing captioned "Me when I hear the Kenyan Ministry of Tourism has been looking for me for fives years."

Balala was addressing questions on why his Ministry decided to appoint British Model Naomi Campbell as Magical Kenya International Ambassador.

“I know everybody is asking why not Lupita. Lupita has commitments and her managers cannot allow us to access her. We’ve spent the last five years looking for Lupita,” Mr Balala said.

The CS mentioned that the actress, who is the daughter of Kisumu Governor Peter Anyang Nyong’o, has other commitments and her management would not allow the Ministry access to her.

Kenyans caused an uproar over the appointment, with many insisting that Lupita Nyong’o would have been the perfect fit for the role, compared to an ‘outsider’.

CS Balala noted that Ms. Campbell is best placed to market Kenya through her international networks, adding that they have a working formula and that she took up the role for free, because of the love she has for Kenya.