This archive report was first published on 8 October 2021.
Weston Hotel Demolition Claims Exposed as Hoax ¶
On October 6, 2021, a claim that Weston Hotel in Nairobi, linked to Deputy President William Ruto, was set for demolition went viral on social media. The claim was made by Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi, who posted photos of a bulldozer bundled onto a carrier car, stating, 'The Deep State are indeed cornered. They have today decided to express their fury by demolishing Weston Hotel.'
However, Business Today conducted a fact-check and found the claim to be a hoax. Two days after the claim, Weston Hotel was still operating, and no reports of demolition were made. The hotel's management issued a statement dismissing the reports, clarifying that its services were running normally, and urging the public to disregard the claims.
Weston Hotel Management stated, 'Following numerous comments and enquiries from concerned stakeholders, friends and customers, we would like to clarify and assure our esteemed guests and the general public that the hotel operations are running smoothly without any interruption. Any contrary information should be disregarded.'
The 0.773 hectares of land on which Weston Hotel sits is the subject of a legal battle between the hotel's management firm, Priority Ltd, and Monene Investment, and Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, which lays claim to the piece of land located opposite Wilson Airport.
Published on October 8, 2021, by Business Today in partnership with Code for Africa's iLAB data journalism programme, with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie.
