DP Ruto on the spot over links with new beach hotel

The controversial hotel reported to be encroaching on sea land in Shanzu, Mombasa County, is owned by Weston Hotels Limited, which is associated by Deputy President William Ruto, according to a Nation report.

National Environment Management Agency (NEMA) records show that  the hotel group is behind the the application for extension and alteration of Dolphin Hotel.

A view of the Dolphin Hotel shows that the hotel has been constructed on sea land.

So rife was speculation regarding the construction of the hotel that the Coast edition of the Daily Nation decided to run it as lead story headlined “Hotelier builds public on beach area.”

Weston Hotel Limited is a company owned by Deputy President William Ruto.

The Mombasa hotel came into limelight on August 16, when two Nation media Group (NMG) journalists, NTV senior Coast cameraman Karim Rajan and Laban Walloga, a Daily Nation photojournalist were arrested for filming construction of the hotel.

Without any charges being conferred upon them, police later released the pair.

RELATED : NATION JOURNALISTS ARRESTED AT CONTROVERSIAL HOTEL

It became apparent that the hotel is associated with a top government official after the arrests were supervised by a senior Bamburi Police Station officer. Further speculation ensued when Mombasa Police Commander Johnstone Ipara refused to comment on queries from NMG on the matter.

The Nation online article also stated four police officers had been manning the site in shifts of two.

If these reports are anything to go by, it will represent a familiar streak in which DP Ruto has in the past few years sought to extend his strangehold in the hospitality industry.

In June 2017, Ruto bought The Boulevard Hotel on Harry Thuku road in Nairobi at an undisclosed fee one month after acquiring the popular Six Eighty Hotel in the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) at a whooping Ksh3 billion.

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With the latest revelations by Nation, it seems DP Ruto is expanding his tentacles beyond Nairobi County in a bid to add to his already vast wealth.