Of German Tourists Losing Themselves at the Kenyan Coast

The allure of the Coast has turned to be a tough lesson for tourists. After spending all their money and becoming destitute some have run berserk while others have committed suicide.

Frank Heinz-Karl

A German, Frank Heinz-Karl, went berserk after spending all his money on Kenyan women.

At first glance he passes for an ordinary man walking on the streets of Diani in Kwale County. But on close scrutiny one realises all is not well with Heinz-Karl who carries a blue sack stuffed with papers and traveling documents on his back. He has nowhere to sleep and depends on well-wishers for food.

“I came from Germany through Addis Ababa in Ethiopia where I took a flight to Mombasa airport then a matatu to Diani,” he read his statement from a scribbled piece of paper.

Through a translator, Jeff Martin, Heinz-Karl said that he gave his phone and ATMs to a local man who could withdraw the money whenever they needed. Unfortunately he cannot identify the man who swindled him of the money.

“I really believed that man and gave him all my ATMs and he was at liberty to withdraw the amount that I sent him to get. I later realised that all the money had been withdrawn,” he said.

The German tourist added that the man aided him in buying a motorcycle but to his surprise, the logbook did not bear his name. Heinz-Karl was later deported to Germany.

Klause Hannes

Another tourist Klause Hannes, went insane before he died on September 11, 2011. The millionaire had been married to a Kenyan for about 33 years. Hellen Fedha, a caretaker of the house where the deceased lived said he used to collect bottles and scrap metal in Diani.

Ms Fedha shared that Hannes’ troubles started after he allegedly stumbled upon witchcraft paraphernalia that the wife was used to keep him.

“He legally married his Kenyan wife in 1987 and was then working in Germany but he used to visit often. They had really established themselves with the money that he used to send the wife,” she said.

The German retired in 2007 and settled in Kenya where he had acquired property. His wife Priscilla also went berserk and used to pick up papers on the road side. “Before his death, Hannes had Sh12 million which was looted by the friends. The woman had a daughter (Judith) who topped Matuga Girls High School of the 2005 class. The daughter later died,” she added.

Stefan Andreas Delno

Last year, a German, Stefan Andreas Delno, was forced to flee the country through Uganda after his passport was confiscated by a Kenyan in collusion with his girlfriends.

The man in his late 60s came to the country in 1991, but returned home poor after he was swindled by a lawyer.

“In the beginning, I was just enjoying life as a tourist before I got my work permit and ventured in car importation but I was swindled by a lawyer we had partnered with in the business,” he said.

Later on, Mr Delno fell in love with a Kenyan woman but they divorced after she swept his house in Germany clean while he was on holiday in Kenya. “She put everything in a 40 feet container including my vehicles back to Kenya. Suddenly, I found things that were in Germany in her house,” he added.

Later, Delno sent a message to this writer saying he had successfully fled the country. “I have returned to Germany, although I used dubious means by going through Uganda. I don’t think I will ever return to Kenya again despite the fact that I had invested there,” he said through a WhatsApp message