Emara Ole-Sereni Hotel has finally released a detailed statement on what transpired in a video that has gone viral showing a brawl that took place in their premises over the weekend.
The fracas involved Wapi Pay co-founders, Eddie and Paul Ndichu, and unknown women as seen in the video that has been widely circulated online.
The management of the hotel through a statement released on Tuesday, October 19, confirmed the melee that occurred.
Emara Ole-Sereni Group Chief Executive Officer, Ghulam Samdani, noted that the hotel deployed their security officers to intervene to de-escalate the matter.
The CEO further noted that the hotel reported the incident to police, allowing them to look into the matter.
The hotel in the statement made it clear that they do not entertain any form of such violent behavior as portrayed by those involved in the commotion.
“We are aware that there are some disturbing pictures and videos circulating online of an incident that occurred on 17th October 2021 at the lobby of Emara Ole-Sereni Hotel” stated the CEO.
“At the outset, please note that we do not accept nor condone any such behavior as we have an obligation to provide a safe and enjoyable experience for all our guests. While there was an incident, it is isolated and out of character for our operations.”
He added, “The hotel security intervened immediately to prevent further violence and the manager on duty promptly contacted the police, who took control of the matter. We are aware that no arrests were made and as such we have no further comment at this stage.”
The management assured their clients that they have put measures in place to ensure that similar incidents do not recur.
This comes as the twins continue to suffer the consequences of their actions over the weekend. In the latest setback, board members of the Association of Fintechs in Kenya on Tuesday, October 19, confirmed through a statement that Eddie Ndichu, Janet Mbugua's husband, had stepped down as a board member.
“On the 19th of October, the Board members convened a special meeting during which Mr. Ndichu stepped down as a board member pending formal investigations into the matter.
“The Board of Association of Fintechs in Kenya takes note of the unfortunate allegations made against our board member Eddie Ndichu following an altercation at a city hotel on Saturday, October 17, 2021," their statement read in part.
Earlier on, the duo had just lost a multi-million investment for their company, Wapi Pay, after the assault video went viral.
General Partner of Kepple Africa Ventures, Takahiro Kanzaki, took to Twitter on Tuesday, October 19, to announce that their company did not tolerate gender-based violence.
"In light of the alleged assault on women by the founders of our portfolio company Wapi Pay, we Kepple Africa Ventures hereby announce that we have zero tolerance on such conduct and announce that we will relinquish all the rights of our investment stake in Wapi Pay," he stated.
