The Grand Regency Hotel in Nairobi has been sold by the Kenyan Lands Ministry to the Libyan Arab African Investment Company for around $30 million, according to Lands Minister James Orengo. The remarkable features about the sale include the fact that it was done secretively, without the knowledge of the Lands Minister, and the fact that the sale price was less than one third of the commonly understood value of the hotel.
Ownership of the hotel was previously under the control of one of Kenya’s most wealthy men, Kamlesh Pattni, who has allegedly acquired massive wealth through the Goldenberg scandal. Mr Pattni is believed to have surrendered his interest in the hotel in exchange for immunity from prosecution for corruption, although Kenyan Finance Minister Amos Kimunya denied this in Parliament two months ago. In his speech to Parliament, Mr Kimunya also denied that the hotel had been sold to the Libyan company, although this has now proved to be true.
Mr Kimunya appears to have been directly involved in the sale, and media reports suggest that government ministers may have exerted undue pressure on junior officials in the Lands Ministry to effect the sale of the hotel secretly, without informing the Lands Minister. It will be interesting to see whether the transaction is fully investigated, or whether the affair is simply swept under the carpet, as has happened in the past with major corruption scandals.
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[…] Last Tuesday’s post discussed the scandal surrounding the sale of the Grand Regency Hotel in Nairobi for less than one third of its supposed value in a dealing which was kept secret from the relevant minister. The Kenyan Finance Minister Amos Kimunya seems to have orchestrated the deal, and it is widely suspected that some type of corruption was involved. At the very least, Mr Kimunya seems to have been guilty of failing to act transparently and misleading parliament. […]