This archive report was first published on 7 October 2021.
Published on October 7, 2021, Laico Regency, a hotel on Uhuru Highway, has been struggling to stay afloat. The hotel's financial woes have led to the termination of its employees' contracts, with many having been on unpaid leave since March 2020.
Before Kenya reported its first case of coronavirus in March 2020, Laico Regency sent its employees on 30 days of unpaid leave. The hotel staff were on unpaid leave after efforts to release Sh. 50 million to cover their salaries and clear statutory deductions failed. This leave was extended up to June 2020, and in September 2020, Laico's caretaker manager Jamal Ahmed informed employees that the hotel would be shut down indefinitely.
Laico Regency's financial struggles began in April 2020, when it emerged that the hotel was battling to release a Sh. 200 million bailout stuck in a commercial bank. The money was wired by the Libyan embassy in Kigali to the North African country's mission in Kenya to bail out the hotel after it failed to pay staff, suppliers, and contractors.
Laico Regency was originally owned by businessman Kamlesh Patni, who was involved in the Goldenberg scandal. The hotel was repossessed by the government to recover proceeds of corruption from Patni and later sold to the Libyan government in 2008.
