Deputy President William Ruto has shockingly revealed that he was not aware that the original owner of the land where Weston Hotel stands was fraudulently acquired.
He further says that investigations are underway to unearth the truth of the matter and that the illegalities should be rectified accordingly.While inquiring about the status of Weston, Mr. Sackur asked the DP to explain about the Weston Hotel controversy.“Can you explain something about the Weston Hotel, which is said to be yours and which is said to be sitting on illegally acquired land,” Mr Sackur asked the DP.In his reply, the DP stated that“We may leave that topic for now as that is a big story…,” as he wanted to evade the question.
However, the host interjected and informed him that Kenyans are following up the subject with a keen interest.“Kenyans are very concerned about this issue and as you are aware, recent Opinion Polls have placed you among the list of leaders perceived to be corrupt,” said Mr Sackur. Upon this, the DP replied that: “For your information, Weston Hotel sits only on 0.7 hectares of land…, though many people would want to believe that it occupies half of Nairobi.”
[VIDEO]: Deputy President William Ruto has now, for the first time, acknowledged that the land that his Weston Hotel sits on was illegally acquired. pic.twitter.com/eTF2qJIb05
— The African Voice (@teddyeugene) February 12, 2019
Kenyans have taken up to twitter to voice their opinions about the whole situation with most demanding that the hotel be demolished and land returned to it’s rightful owner.
If, as @WilliamSRuto says, Weston Hotel is built on illegally acquired land that is to be restored to its rightful owners, why is it still standing when so many other buildings in similar situations were demolished? https://t.co/8CxCIoibv3
— gathara (@gathara) February 12, 2019
Constitution Article 40(6) is eloquently on illegally and or unlawfully acquired property. This Article applies to Weston Hotel. @EACCKenya together with NLC SHOULD IMMEDIATELY REPOSSESS THE LAND and revert it to public. https://t.co/DuoO9T25uA
— Ndung’u Wainaina (@NdunguWainaina) February 12, 2019
When DP Ruto was caught grabbing land of Muteshi , he said he was innocent and didn’t know the sellers grabbed it. The same narrative on Weston hotel grab. Is it only who is ever conned ?
— Rein (@Asamoh_) February 12, 2019
Regarding opinion poll outcome that considers him as among the ‘most corrupt politician’ in the nation, Mr Ruto explained: “If you look carefully at that Ipsos list which rated me as the most corrupt, that list did not only have William Ruto but other leaders such as former president, the current president, and the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga… Specifically, most of the current political leaders appeared in that list. This will only tell you that the whole corruption story has been politicised.”