Treetops, which since the colonial era has been marketed as the hotel where Elizabeth II went to bed as a princess and woke up the next day as the British queen in 1952, is an enviable addition to the family’s estate.
The Rigathi family reportedly paid Sh3.5 billion for the two hotels. Treetops, which was at first built on a fig tree, from which the Queen, and other white settler guests, would have animals watering in the nearby hole.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, British High Commissioner to Kenya Neil Wigan and Treetops Hotel Managing Director Keith Ikinu cut the ribbon to mark the re-opening of Treetops Hotel in Aberdare National Park on August 3, 2024.
Photo credit: Joseph Kanyi | Nation Media Group
The acquisition of Treetops Hotel and Outspan extends a long trend in which politicians and their families, including all of Kenya’s presidents, have an interest in the hospitality industry.
Political bigwigs with deep pockets own five-star beach hotels at the Coast and luxurious lodges in Naivasha and Maasai Mara. At the same time, the newbies who are yet to amass enough wealth have gone to small-capacity hotels, some in the backwaters of their rural constituencies.
Mr Gachagua reckoned that for long, the government had been looking for foreigners to come and invest in the country yet there were enough local investors.
“My sons have every right to invest here. I had warned them (his sons) not to do business with the government to avoid conflict of interest,” said Mr Gachagua in an interview with Inooro TV .
Queen Elizabeth II suite at the Treetops Hotel at Aberdare National Park on August 3, 2024.
Photo credit: Joseph Kanyi | Nation Media Group
His brother, former Nyeri governor Nderitu Gachagua, owned the Olive Gardens Hotel in Nairobi and Vipingo Beach Resort in Kilifi.
When Nderitu Gachagua died in 2017, succession proceedings revealed that he left five per cent of his estate to his brother, who would become Deputy President five years later.
The two hotels were, however, indicated among assets sold and proceeds shared amongst beneficiaries in the will.
Javas Bigambo, a political analyst, notes that the investment in hotels, just like real estate, keeps appreciating when key factors like location are right. This, he says, is attractive to many elite politicians who tend to have “colossal amounts of money.”
“Hospitality is a sector that requires colossal amounts of money to invest in. Our politicians have a lot of money, as to where they get it, that is another story,” says Bigambo
A view of Treetops Hotel inside Aberdare National Park on August 3, 2024.
Photo credit: Joseph Kanyi | Nation Media Group
Conflict of interest, however, remains a lingering concern, especially when doing business with ministries, government agencies and departments.
Chris Owala, director of the Community Initiative Action Group, reckons that because politicians are in power “they can easily direct where the traffic is going.”
Mr Owala is, however, concerned that a lot of hotels might have been built with dirty cash, first channelled through hardware, after which these politicians will influence tenders from the public sector.
While some influential individuals have attempted to hide ownership of hotels through layers of companies or proxies, others have been open about their investments.
President Ruto’s Weston Hotel in Nairobi.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
President William Ruto has publicly confessed to owning Weston Hotel, and details on the public procurement information portal show that he is one of the directors of the Lang’ata Road-based hotel.
Other directors of the hotel are the President’s wife Rachel Ruto and daughter Charlene Chelagat. The Weston Hotel has been embroiled in controversy over the years due to allegations surrounding the acquisition of the land on which it stands.
The primary issue revolves around claims that the land was illegally obtained from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, but the hotel's owners have often defended their acquisition, claiming they purchased the land in good faith.
It is, however, not known how much Dr Ruto paid to acquire the land and build the 117-bed capacity hotel.
Disclosures from the Public Information and Procurement Portal show that a majority of the government contracts that Weston Hotel has won came after Ruto became President in September 2022.
President Ruto also owns Dolphin Hotel, which is based in Mombasa and which sits on three hectares, according to disclosures made to Parliament by the former Cabinet Secretary for Interior Security Fred Matiang’i. The Sh600 million beach hotel is expected to be one of the biggest in Mombasa with a projected capacity of 600 rooms.
The hotel was thrust into the limelight in August 2018 when three Nation Media Group journalists were attacked and injured when they visited the site under construction. This followed public complaints over the dumping of sand by the contractors on a public beach. The contractor finally complied by removing the sand.
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta and his brother Muhoho Kenyatta. they are the directors of Heritage Hotels.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
The Kenyatta family’s business empire is vast. From property to banking and dairy processing, the Kenyattas are arguably Kenya’s richest family.
They also own a chain of hotels under the umbrella of Heritage Hotels. The directors of Heritage Hotels include Muhoho Kenyatta, the older brother of former President Uhuru Kenyatta . Their father was the country’s first president.
Other directors of Heritage Hotels are John Stuart Armitage, who has been helping the Kenyatta family to run their businesses for many years. Mr Armitage was also director of NCBA, where the Kenyattas, through their holding company Enke Management, hold a significant stake. Jacob Ogechi Ombongi is the other listed director of Heritage Hotels. Mr Ombongi, a High Court advocate, is the group company secretary for Enke Management.
Heritage Hotels has several luxury hotels including the Voyager Resort in Mombasa and Tsavo. The Kenyattas also own Interpids camps in Samburu and Maasai Mara as well as the Great Rift Valley Lodge in Naivasha.
Lake Bogoria Spa Resort which is owned by the family of former President Daniel arap Moi.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Daniel Moi, Kenya’s second president, is the other politician who amassed lots of wealth in his 24-year reign. Moi’s business empire includes hotels such as Lake Bogoria Spa Resort famed for its natural spa with steam from the famous Bogoria hot springs. Philip Moi, the brother to the former Baringo senator Gideon Moi, co-owned the hotel with his father.
The Moi family also had majority shareholding in Intercontinental Hotel which went down after the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Other hotels associated with the Moi family include The Lord Errol restaurant and Merica Hotel.
Former President Mwai Kibaki whose family owns hotels including Silver Spring, Green Hills and Kentrout Grill and Campsite.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
By the time Kibaki died in April 2022, it was not clear which hotels were still under his name. Three hotels—Silver Spring, Green Hills and Kentrout Grill and Campsite—have previously been associated with Kenya’s third president.
There is no doubt that Kibaki was a businessman, or at least he loved it, with his zeal for free enterprise reflected in the way he encouraged private investment.
Silver Springs Hotel, which has since been rebranded Muthu Silver Springs, and which past reports had shown was associated with the families of the late president and the late Aggrey Wahome, closed down in 2020 due to the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
A search of the business registration shows that the hotel is currently owned by Europe’s hospitality chain, MGM Muthu.
Nyeri-based Green Hills—which also shut down during the pandemic before it re-opened and then closed again—is also associated with the late President.
In 2018, there were reports that Kibaki was to build a luxurious five-star hotel next to the Menengai Crater in Nakuru.
Filings at the National Environment Management Authority indicated that the project by the Kibaki family’s company Gingalili (1968) Ltd was to occupy 692 acres next to the crater where a 100MW geothermal field is under development. It is not clear the status of the multibillion project.
The late Njenga Karume who owns Jacaranda Hotel, Indian Ocean Beach Resort, Lake Elementaita Lodge, Village Inn Resort and Highlands Hotel.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
The late Njenga Karume — a minister in President Mwai Kibaki’s government — takes home the trophy of the politician who invested in the highest number of hotels.
Our research revealed that the former chairman of the Gikuyu Embu Meru Association (Gema) had five luxurious hotels under his name. These included Jacaranda Hotel, Indian Ocean Beach Resort, Lake Elementaita Lodge, Village Inn Resort and Highlands Hotel.
Mr Karume’s vast business empire, including the hotels, is unfortunately under threat of collapse from years of mismanagement as his children and trustees squabble for the control of the late politician’s billions.
Former Nairobi governor Evans Kidero. He trades through Gem Investments, Gem Apartments, Gem Suites, Orro Limited and Argenti Limited.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Evans Kidero, Nairobi’s first governor under the 2010 Constitution, is also into hospitality. In a case against the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), it was disclosed that the former Nairobi governor trades through five companies: Gem Investments, Gem Apartments, Gem Suites, Orro Limited and Argenti Limited.
His signature property is Gem Suites, serviced apartments located in Nairobi's exclusive State House and Riverside neighbourhoods and whose signature restaurant is Argenti.
The anti-corruption body has been going after the property, whose upgrade the EACC argues was financed using funds siphoned from City Hall. Dr Kidero has denied all the allegations and is fighting in court to clear his name.
Former Kiambu governor Ferdinand Waititu who owns Delta Hotel.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Ferdinand Waititu, the former governor for Kiambu County, is alleged to have bought a Nairobi hotel using stolen money, according to a case by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission. Mr Waititu bought Delta Hotel at a total cost of Sh380 millio n from city tycoon Rahab Mwihaki Karoki, who said she received Sh350 million from the politician in 2018. The family agreed to pay the Sh29 million balance.
Ms Mwihaki said she received the money from Waititu through his company, Saika Two Estate Developers Limited, and a contractor named Testimony Enterprises Limited. She testified that the contractor told her he was depositing the money as an agent for Mr Waititu. The former governor and his co-accused have denied in court the claims by EACC.
Former Cabinet minister John Michuki. His family owns Windsor Golf Hotel located in the Ridgeways area.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Another politician who invested in hotels is John Michuki, who owns the Victorian-themed Windsor Golf Hotel located in the Ridgeways area. He died in February 2012. Michuki said he began building the hotel in 1988 when he lost the election Kangema. “I just wanted something to keep my mind away from politics,” he said in a past interview. The Victorian-style building was the first to be built by an English architect friend of his before they embarked on the golf course.
Mr Raphael Tuju's Dari Restaurant grounds.
Raphael Tuju is the other politician who has gone big in the hospitality industry. Dari Restaurant is a posh facility in a natural environment complete with animals and plants in Nairobi’s Karen, However, the East African Development Bank wants to auction the property over $9.3 million that Tuju borrowed in 2015. The dispute is yet to be concluded.
George Kariuki, the MP for Ndia, owns Elmer Naivasha Resort & Spa, a five-star resort. The MP, who is also the chairman of the National Assembly Roads and Transport committee, has been a close ally of President William Ruto. The five-star luxury resort is nestled in the heart of the Rift Valley, and overlooks the Aberdare Ranges.
Kisumu Central MP Fred Ouda (centre). He owns Pinecone Hotel in Kisumu.
The hotelier beat incumbent Fred Ouda in the August 2022 General Election to become Kisumu Central MP.
He is the majority owner of the Pinecone Hotel, a budget establishment with 58 deluxe rooms, four executive rooms, six suites, two apartments, a bar, a restaurant and swimming pool. The hotel also offers conferencing facilities and laundry services.
Pinecone Hotel provided conference and hospitality services to various government institutions between 2018 and 2022, largely before Dr Oron went into elective politics, data from the Public Procurement Information Portal shows.
Pinecone Hotel Kisumu (PHK) Ltd was incorporated on February 12, 2009. Dr Oron owns 400 shares, while Martha Akelo Odera owns 100 shares.
Other politicians who are associated with various hospitality facilities across the country include former Meru Governor Kiraitu Murungi (Heritage Hotel Nkubu, Meru County) and former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko (Salama Bling Beach Resort in Kilifi County).
The former Governor for Tharaka-Nithi Samuel Ragwa owns Sammerton Hotel. In 2017, the facility came into the limelight after it was alleged that a generator worth Sh2.5 million belonging to Tharaka Nithi County had been found at Sammerton. Mr Ragwa denied the allegations
