Forget riparian! Why Nairobi county has demolished multi-million-shilling Hotel

Sany the green excavator is at what it does well just before it takes some rest for the Christmas.

Just before Grand Manor Hotel set to open its doors, a Nairobi court has given the go ahead for the demolition of the structure citing it  a security threat to the adjacent United Nations offices.

Thursday morning bulldozers descended on the multimillion Grand Manor Hotel owned by businessman Praful Kumar.

An expose on CitizenTV had revealed complaints filed by the Gigiri Village Association in 2015 concerning the hotel.

They claimed that the building violated physical planning regulations for the low-density estate.

According to them, the upmarket Gigiri area only accords residents low residential, one-family houses.

In 2016, county authorities demanded evidence showing that the owners of the building involved the embassies and residents in public participation.

A year later, the Ministry of Interior requested Nairobi County for technical advice saying embassies were threatening to move their bases from Nairobi if the matter was not resolved.
Months later, it was revealed that the businessman did not provide proof of any consultations with Gigiri residents or the consulates.

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The property is situated opposite the US Embassy on one side, and the UN head offices on the other side.

On its left, is the High Commission of Botswana and on the right is the Embassy of Morocco stretching to its backyard.

Its proximity to the embassies was among the major reasons for the push to have it brought down.

Gigiri Village Association had also filed a complaint in July 2015, lamenting that erecting a commercial structure in the area violated physical planning regulations for the low-density estate.

The controversy surrounding the doomed hotel hit headlines in August after Mr Kumar was arrested by anti-corruption detectives in Kilifi on claims that that he intended to bribe Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko not to demolish the property.

The proprietor of the multi million facility hit the headlines in August 2018 when he was arrested by the Ethics and Anti Corruption officials for offering a one million shilling bribe to Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko.

According to a statement released by EACC on Twitter, Mr Praful was found in possession of Sh5 million. However, Mike Sonko’s office says that Mr Praful only offered Kshs. 1 million to the Governor.

This year, the US State Department announcedthat  it was scrapping its travel warnings for specific countries, instead launching a four-level “travel advisory programme.”

Kenya is placed in the second tier under the new system. When visiting countries in that grouping, US citizens are urged to “exercise increased caution.”

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