As one travels along Thika Superhighway, it is hard to miss the giant building christened Ruiru Rainbow Resort in Kiambu County.
The story behind the towering structure, today valued at around Ksh3 billion as reported by The Standard, is as impressive as its architectural design.
In mid-1998 Julius Kamau, then in the UK, sent home money just as any person in the diaspora would.
The funds were meant for the purchase of a piece of land in Ruiru, which he would use to realise his childhood dream of establishing a hotel.
Kamau had gone to study in the UK and decided to seek employment as a security guard to earn extra income. Before he realised it, he was the owner of a security agency in the UK that employed hundreds.
It is from the venture that he raised Ksh 300,000 which he sent to his brother to buy the land. However, the parcel was not what he expected.
"What I got was an abandoned, waterlogged quarry. I told my brother that I was looking for a plot, not a piece of Lake Victoria,” Kamau stated in a past interview with the publication.
The land was an abandoned quarry that the Ruiru Town Council had earmarked as a dumping site. Not just that, the area had no access to good roads, clean piped water or even a sewer line.
While still in London, Kamau presented a sketch of the hotel to the town council, seeking advice and approval to begin construction.
"They thought I was mad. They actually told me that they were looking for ways to fill the quarry that had become a danger to local residents. Putting any permanent structure here, let alone a 10-floor hotel, was out of the question,” Kamau recalled.
He sought the help of architects and engineers and came up with a strategy to mitigate the hurdles. He presented a different plan that had solutions to the water, sewerage and sanitation challenges at the site.
Kamau came up with an idea to construct an on-site septic tank. The gaping hole left behind by mining activity was modelled into a basement, inclusive of a water treatment and recycling plant.
It is then that he was allowed to carry on with the construction.
The resort boasts 130 rooms, 12 fully furnished apartments and a penthouse. It has 12 conference halls, 2 of which can accommodate up to 500 guests, while the remaining 10 can only house 100 people.
Ruiru Rainbow Resort has a rooftop with a well designed special restaurant with a broad view of Kiambu and its environs. Better yet, from there, one can view Mt Kilimambogo.
“This has been my most fulfilling entrepreneurship journey that has given Ruiru Town a new impetus as a hospitality and investment hub. Our dream has been to create a facility that evokes good memory about the client’s stay here,” Kamau stated.
The resort will turn eight years on June 23, 2020.
