This archive report was first published on 9 July 2021.
On July 5, 2021, a report emerged claiming that Said Abdullahi Deni, President of the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, had paid $21.7 million to acquire Sarova Stanley Hotel in Nairobi's city centre.
The news was shared on screenshots mimicking mainstream media Facebook accounts under the headline, 'Regional president in Somalia buys a luxurious hotel in Kenya's Capital'. However, a fact-check by BusinessToday revealed that the Facebook accounts shown to have published the information were mimics of the Nation, KTN, and Citizen TV Facebook pages.
A search of these posts on Facebook and Twitter did not yield any pages but just the screenshots shared.
The management of Sarova Hotels and Resorts Kenya, the parent company of Sarova Stanley Hotel, has dismissed the sale claims, terming the posts as fake.
"Sarova Hotels and Resorts Kenya would like to caution the public on a post making rounds on social media alleging that our Nairobi hotel, Sarova Stanley, has been bought by a Business Tycoon from Somalia. The aforementioned post is not factual and is FAKE NEWS," said the hotel in a statement.
The hotel further stated that if a sale of any of their hotels was to take place, an official statement from the Company's Board of Directors would be released.
VERDICT: Reports of Sarova Stanley Hotel being sold have been denied by the hotel's management and are, therefore, FAKE news.
