Daniele Forino is 32 years old; he has lived in Watamu since he was 12, grew up working on the building sites that his father Alfonso transformed into the Twiga Resort and other projects, and has now taken the reins. He is certainly not a ‘hit-and-run’ entrepreneur, nor is he someone who doesn’t know how things are done on the Kenyan coast. Above all, he is someone who prefers to stay behind the scenes yet is always ready to take responsibility.
He is the owner of the five-storey ocean-front building whose construction has been halted following the unfortunate incident involving the ceiling of the underground car park, a collapse that cost a local worker his life. These things happen, of course, and we Italians know this all too well, given our sad record of workplace fatalities.
Daniele Forino, however, is keen to draw a distinction between two issues that have fuelled the recent controversy: aesthetic judgement (and the term ‘eyesore’) and the business aspect – his vision as a young entrepreneur for whom Watamu is home, who employs 600 Kenyans and who wants only the best for this tourist destination.

“I’m sickened by everything that’s been written and said, especially on social media,” Forino explains to Malindikenya.net. “For a start, how can you judge whether a building under construction is ugly or not? Structures like this will never be considered beautiful whilst they’re still just shells; you have to wait until they’re finished. And what I’m building – which will be a five-star hotel – is a fine project, and I hope to be able to realise it exactly as I envisaged it.”
At the same time, the Italian developer wishes to dispel certain allegations – which, incidentally, we have never made. “I have all the necessary planning permission to build on that site,” says Forino, “and besides, few people realise that there was already a structure there that formed part of the Twiga – the conference hall – and I decided to build a little further back to leave more space for the beach. If you look at many other buildings along this stretch of coastline, I certainly haven’t done anything out of the ordinary. I therefore ask that the project be judged on the basis of the final result.”

Some have suggested it should be demolished, but whilst our suggestion was a provocation based on aesthetic concerns and worries about the marine ecosystem, Forino – as well as many Kenyans from the local community who stand to benefit from the new facility through the economic spin-offs brought by tourism – agree with him that work must resume as soon as possible, and we too are convinced that, at this stage, that is the right thing to do.
“My vision is that of someone who knows how to build, who wakes up every morning at dawn and goes to work, who lives alongside the local community – not the malicious gossipers on social media, who, in the end, have never really done anything for Watamu apart from spreading rumours. It’s not by giving a sweet to a child or some flour to their family that you help these people to thrive, but by providing them with work and laying the foundations for the development of tourism. Look at Zanzibar: nobody complains about the buildings, because they’ve brought in high-spending, quality tourism. This is what I’d like to see for Watamu – not just Italians who came here many years ago, have their little houses here and hate progress. I’m not dreaming of a new Dubai; I’m thinking of a Watamu with better tourism – otherwise I wouldn’t be investing in new projects. So I don’t dispute purely aesthetic opinions, but let’s not make references to things that aren’t true; a project like this couldn’t even get off the ground if it weren’t fully compliant with the regulations.”
We’re pleased that Daniele Forino has decided to share his thoughts, and we’re convinced that what currently appears to us as an ‘eyesore’ must be completed. Only then will we be able to judge it for its impact on Watamu’s seascape, but the completion of the project will mean that everything has been carried out legally and professionally.