On Thursday, April 28, Hilton Hotel, announced that it was closing its Nairobi branch effective December becoming the second iconic hotel to close its doors in the recent past.
Officially opened by Kenya's founding father Jomo Kenyatta on December 17, 1969, the hotel has graced Nairobi skylines for 53 years. As any high-end establishment, it has witnessed its fair share of history.
Kenyans.co.ke takes you down the memory lane with some of the events that took place within the precincts of Hilton hotel.
JM Kariuki's Last Meal
Former Nyandarua North Member of Parliament and Assistant Minister Josiah Mwangi Kariuki was last spotted alive outside Hilton Hotel before his assassination on March 2, 1975. JM was having a meal at the Hilton Coffee shop at around 7p.m.
He was later joined by former General Service Unit (GSU) commandant Ben Gethi, who had served in Mzee Jomo Kenyatta's security detail. The two left together to an undisclosed location, only for him to be found dead 10 days later.
Speaking during a past interview, a former special-ops James Khwatenge, who claimed to be part of a Special Branch revealed that the two headed to the elite groups headquarters at Kingsway Towers for interrogation over remarks he made against the state.
He claimed that the MP clashed with the interrogators and the verbal altercation ensued that eventually led to his death - which he claimed was a mistake
"Wanyoike Thuku slapped JM, causing his teeth to fall out. The MP went for his pistol and when Gethi saw this, he saw him and fractured his hand. A decision was made for JM to be killed," Khwatange revealed.
Obado Arrested at Hilton
Migori Governor Okoth Obado was arrested at the Hilton Hotel on November 14, 2018, while attending a meeting chaired by Deputy President William Ruto. The politician was caught up with investigative officers as he tried to beat their dragnet using a taxi.
Obado, who was part of the leaders attending the Big Four Agenda meeting quietly left his seat and headed to the basement after he was tipped off that a security team was hot on his heels after they confiscated eight guns from his Migori and Nairobi homes.
In a well-orchestrated plan, Obado was to leave the room purporting to head to the VIP washrooms after which he would sneak downstairs to an awaiting taxi. However, a plain-clothed officer followed him and managed to stop him in his tracks as the vehicle made its way out of the prime hotel.
Grace Aluma- A billionaire Con artist
Kenyans have many a time fallen victim to con artists, both locals and foreigners. From jobs to get-money-quick schemes, they have fallen hook line and sinker into well-organized plots.
In 1982, the Kenyan political class and tycoons became victim to a Ugandan citizen, Grace Aluma, who purported to be a billionaire looking for investors to pump their money into a multi-billion project.
Aluma convened a meeting at the Hilton Hotel, the best venue to corroborate her billionaire status. She told the 'potential investors' who included MPs that she was an agent of the American government and was looking to trade in uranium - a mineral that would see them multiply their investments.
She disclosed to them that the deal would be worth Ksh11.5 billion and had documents to back her claims. Excited by the success of her con game, she pushed her luck further and tried to sell International Life House to a diplomatic mission.
However, she was caught up with by the authorities before she could pull the deal off. Her victims included a local commercial bank, a car bazaar a consultant working with the UN and a former Bahati constituency MP.
Hosting FBI Agents
In the wake of the Westgate attack on September 21, 2013 that claimed 68 lives, the then President of the United States of America Barack Obama offered Kenyans a helping hand.
Obama deployed several agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to assist Kenyan agencies to probe the incident. The agents were hosted at Hilton Nairobi, where they conducted their operations from.
Hilton Awarded City Road
Majority of Kenyans who have been around the Hilton have often questioned why the road next to the park is inaccessible to the public. The city-based hotel got exclusive rights to the lane, since 2013.
Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) Transport Director Michael Ochieng disclosed that the decision to hand over the road to Hilton Hotel was made in consideration of the heightened insecurity then.
" It was when there were a series of terrorist attacks in the country and five-star hotels in the city became key strategic targets because of being frequented by foreigners, especially Caucasians," Ochieng expounded.
