Samuel Kumba and Zulekha Nathoo
2 October 2008
Nairobi — Libyan owners of the Grand Regency Hotel have changed its name even as the Cockar Commission investigating the sale is yet to complete its work.
It will now be known as Laico Regency Hotel to join the Libyan hotel chain with a similar brand name, according to the general manager Solomon Adede.
Even though the Cockar Commission is yet to establish whether or not the sale of Nairobi's Grand Regency hotel was legal, it is business as usual for the owners, who yesterday unveiled the hotel's new name.
Mr Adede said despite the hotel being the subject of a national inquiry, business plans would move ahead.
"It's true that the commission has a job to do but we, as management, still have a business to run and we have to position ourselves for 2009," he said.
Apart from the hotel sale, the Cockar Commission is also mandated to investigate the role played by former Finance minister Amos Kimunya and Central Bank governor Njuguna Ndung'u, among others.
Lands minister James Orengo has since entered a caveat. He did so after claiming the hotel had been sold illegally.
The minister, who was the commission's 19th witness, said that the caveat would remain. This means that no further transactions can be done on the title to the piece of land where the hotel is located.
Rather than wait for the commission's final decision, Laico made the calculated announcement in what seemed to be a strategically-timed move to detach the hotel from its notorious past.
"Like the mythical phoenix, we are rising to take hold of our new brand name and leaving the Regency's interesting past to historians," Mr Adede said.
The hotel, he said, is owned by Laico Kenya Limited, but will be run by Laico Hotel and Management Company.
When asked to disclose the owners of Laico Kenya Ltd, Mr Adede refused to answer directly, saying: "That, you can only find from the Registrar of Societies."
Investment
Libya Africa Investment Company, which is also known as the Laico Group, is the investment arm of the Libyan government in Africa that fully owns the management company running Laico Regency Nairobi.
The Libyan company has interests in manufacturing, agriculture, tourism, mining and telecommunications in Africa.
Additional reporting by Philip Wahome
Copyright © 2008 The Nation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
Read comments. Write your own.
