Inside one of the re-opened dusitD2 Hotel restaurants in Nairobi’s 14 Riverside business complex, it is easy to forget the hail of bullets and grenades that rained on hapless guests and other office occupants just over two weeks ago.
Signs of the 18-hour long terror siege and elite security forces battle to rescue hundreds of people in the high-end complex lay hidden under fresh coats of paint and new sets of glass doors. Construction workers put the final touches of repair, a sign that the hotel’s management was ready to rise from the ashes and re-open for business.
The scene of the January 15 Al-Shabaab attack that killed 21 people and left many nursing gunshot wounds is awkwardly covered in peace and tranquility.
But to be sure that a similar attack will not happen again, security barrier boulders have been installed near the building’s entry, providing an impenetrable.
The low security barriers are presumably aimed at preventing vehicles from approaching the compound at high speeds and to help protect the complex against an attack by suicide bombers.
The complex has also adopted additional multiple layers of security details.
Already, some businesses have resumed operations in the six buildings that housed about 40 local and international companies.
Signs of normal life at the complex began to return as early as Monday, when company executives and workers at the complex began the long journey back to normalcy.