Tourism CS Najib Balala has said that his ministry is still finding ways to reach out to the Award-winning Kenyan Hollywood actress Lupita Nyong’o in marketing Brand Kenya.
Speaking during a virtual interview with KTN News on Wednesday, the CS said that Lupita will be appointed once both parties have agreed on the terms and conditions.
Balala said that they had earlier tried to reach her out but they could not access her due to complications.
“Unfortunately, we could not reach her in terms of complications of how do we engage her, how much it is going to cost to bring her on board…those are the things that we are ready to engage with her team, and then we are ready to appoint her as well,” Balala said.
The CS added that they are not discriminating against anybody in terms of the appointment and that they are open to the local as well as the international celebrities.
In January this year, the CS claimed that Lupita has been unreachable and Kenya has been looking for her for five years, the allegations that the international celebrity laughed off.
Balala said this after he was forced to defend the recent appointment of supermodel Naomi Campbell as Magical Kenya’s international ambassador instead of Lupita.
At the same time, the CS said that the international supermodel Naomi Campbell accepted the deal to become Magical Kenya's International Tourism Ambassador for free.
“We are open to many others who will be interested and I am glad that Naomi Campbell has done this for free because of her love for Kenya.”