Bomas has not been sold, state says as it dismisses Gachagua’s allegations
A security check point at the Bomas of Kenya during a public participation exercise on October 4, 2024.
The government has denied claims by former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua that the Bomas of Kenya was sold to a Turkish national.
Principal Secretary in the State Department of Culture and Heritage, Ms Ummi Mohammed Bashir, said the facility was only being renovated.
In a statement, the PS said Mr Gachagua was part of the Cabinet that approved the plans to renovate the facility to international standards.
“The development of Bomas International Convention Complex (BICC) was approved by Cabinet on August 8, 2023, after a Cabinet Memorandum presented by the then Cabinet Secretary for Tourism Peninah Malonza,” she said.
This means that Mr Gachagua was part of the cabinet that met to approve the deal, a year before he was impeached in 2024.
Ms Bashir maintained that the facility had not been sold and that plans to refurbish it had been in place for the past decade.
“Bomas of Kenya has not been sold….the idea of refurbishing and upgrading Bomas of Kenya is not new and has been in consideration for the past 10 years. It is the current administration that has given impetus to its actualisation.”
The PS also stated that the facility, which was placed under the State Department of Culture in 2023, has a valid title in its name issued in 1971 and is in the custody of the government.
While defending the move to upgrade the facility, the PS reiterated that the government is committed to creating a premium conference facility as part of a bold rewrite of the look, feel and purpose of Bomas.
“BICC will become the market leader in the region, with multiple conferencing venues that will be a quantum leap from the facilities that we have had for the past 50 years,” the PS said.
Speaking at a church service in Kajiado County on Sunday, Mr Gachagua claimed he was the only member of Cabinet to oppose a plan to sell it.
“Bomas of Kenya is gone. It was brought to the Cabinet and I opposed it alone. The rest of the members are afraid. Whenever they see the President they start shivering. I'm the only person who stood up and said that Bomas of Kenya is a national heritage and we cannot sell it,” Mr Gachagua said.
According to Mr Gachagua, the President put the matter aside when he spoke out against the plans, which are now being implemented after his removal.
“We are on our own as a country. William Ruto would do whatever he wants in this country.”