Amina’s brother to spend Sh1bn on luxury Runda hotel despite opposition
Wealthy businessman Ahmed Jibril is set to spend Sh1 billion on the construction of a luxury hotel in the upmarket Runda Estate in Nairobi despite opposition from residents.
Mr Jibril, who is Foreign Affairs secretary Amina Mohammed’s brother, has revealed the cost of the hotel in regulatory filings seeking approval to build the 220-bed hotel and a 400-seater conference hall.
Paddock Investments, the company undertaking the project, said the hotel would have a four-star rating and that it will be managed an international hotel chain to meet the standards of the business tourists and diplomats it is targeting.
STANDARDS
“The hotel will be managed by one of the top internationally branded hotel groups (that) has its own standards in respect of safety and counter-terrorism security,” filings by the company state.
“They will be mandated to comply with the security requirements of the UN agencies as well as the American, Canadian and other embassies based in the area.”
The upcoming hotel of four floors sits on 8.4 acres of land and will also have a swimming pool, an expansive lawn and a parking bay with a capacity to hold 260 vehicles.
Paddock Investments directors include Amina Mulik Ali, ARJ Capital Limited, Sudhir Jayantilal Patel and Billow A. Kerrow with Mr Jibril as chairman.
BREACH OF SECURITY
Officials of the Runda Association have sought the government’s intervention to block construction of the hotel, claiming that the developer is in breach of security and requirements of controlled development.
Runda residents, in a letter to Nairobi governor Evans Kidero and National Environment Management Authority director-general Geoffrey Wahungu, questioned how the county government approved amalgamation of the 15 plots and change of user from residential to a hotel.
Paddock, in its application for approval to begin construction, says the Runda residents’ “main concerns in respect of non-availability of water from Runda Water Company, increased traffic situation and absence of sewer have been sufficiently resolved.”
