This archive report was first published on 27 November 2019.
Published on November 27, 2019, the Grand Manor Hotel in Nairobi's upmarket area of Gigiri is set to be demolished after the Appeals Court ruled in favor of the County Government of Nairobi.
The hotel's proprietor, Praful Kumar, had moved to court in January 2019 to stop the demolition, claiming the hotel was constructed with necessary approvals and posed no security threat to nearby foreign missions.
However, the Appellate Court Justices Mohamed Warsame, Daniel Musinga, and Prof Otieno Odek disagreed, ruling that the hotel posed a security threat to the adjacent United Nations offices.
Foreign missions, including the US Embassy, had previously written to Nairobi County and the Foreign Affairs ministry to protest the hotel's construction, citing concerns over its proximity to sensitive diplomatic areas.
The hotel stands opposite the US Embassy on one side, the UN offices on the other side, while the High Commission of Botswana is on the left and the Embassy of Morocco on the right.
Additionally, the Gigiri Village Association had filed a complaint in 2015, stating that the construction of a commercial structure in the area violated physical planning regulations for the low-density estate.
In a separate incident, Praful Kumar was arrested by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) detectives in Kilifi County in August 2019, after allegedly attempting to offer Governor Sonko a bribe of Sh5 million to dissuade him from flattening the property.
