Today's Headlines
- Two Exhibitions Are On At Ramoma, Nairobi
- Country to Review Tourism Law
- Econet Wireless Finally Rolls Out
- Odinga Warns of Civil Unrest
- Mulee Rules Out Harambee Stars U-Turn
- Taking Up a Women's Agenda
- More Than 6,000 Christian Youth Converge for Prayers
- Catholic Church Outraged By MPs' Refusal to Pay Tax
- Pope Benedict Praying for Release of Abducted Nuns
- Thousands Flee Amid Fears of Border Clashes
- Malaria Rates Plummet Among Children
- Winning Against HIV Stigma Behind Bars
- First Congress of Federation of African Journalists a Historic Milestone, Says IFJ
- Archbishop Lele Urges State to Act as Food Crisis Bites
- Regional Workshop Focus Border Management, Irregular Migration
- Silverbird Acquires Kenya's Nu Metro, Starts Operations in Ghana
- Raila is Evil, Says Minister
- Man Charged With Abduction of Two Catholic Sisters
- UN Censures State On Torture
- Agencies Seek $390 Million to Offset Climate And Food Risks
- UN-Backed Scheme Gives 3,000 Prisoners Clean Water and Sanitation
- Samosa Festival is On in Nairobi
- Heartstrings in Another Comedy
- Govts, Investors Engage RVR in Rail Bid
- Mwangi Replaces Mwebesa At NSE
- Riepa Hosts Business Association
- ICTR Petitions UN for Arrest of Kabuga
- UBA to Invest SH360 Billion in Kenya
- Free Movement of People Too, Not Just Goods and Capital
- Judges Running Out of Money?
The Nation (Nairobi)
September 2, 2008
News Article By Muchemi Wachira
A former Grand Regency Hotel receiver manager on Monday insisted that the hotel was making profits by the time it was handed over to the Central Bank.
The statement by Mr Peter Ndaa differed with the one given to the Cockar Commission by current receiver manager Patrick Kamau last week.
Mr Kamau had said in his evidence that the five-star hotel was in bad shape in April when it was being handed over to CBK. According to him, the Grand Regency was technically insolvent since it had accumulated losses of Sh442.9 million.
But Mr Ndaa, the 15th witness to give evidence before the commission, said despite inheriting a debt of Sh25 million in 2004 when he was appointed receiver manager, the hotel made profit.
"The hotel's performance had picked even if it had not been refurbished for 14 years," Mr Ndaa, who is a director of Strathmore Business School, told the commission chairman, retired judge Abdul Majid Cockar.
At the beginning of the year, the witness said, a marketing group known as World Hotels visited Grand Regency to assess it.
"They had sent a mystery customer to assess the kind of service the hotel was offering and they gave us a score of 75 per cent, which is very good," Mr Ndaa said.
Mr Ndaa had been appointed receiver manager jointly with Mr Ezekiel Gichohi on May 31, 2004.
This was after a consent filed at the High Court by the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission and Uhuru Highway Development Limited.
"We did have a campaign to improve the performance of the hotel and by the end of 2004 the performance started turning round," he told the commission investigating the controversial Sh2.9 billion sale of the hotel to a Libyan firm.
After the campaign, cash reserves for the hotel increased and rates for the rooms also shot up, he pointed out, adding that they were able to pay some of their creditors.
By the time, the hotel was handed over to CBK on April 9, it had Sh341 million, which Mr Ndaa described as investment funds.
However, he admitted that there were differences between him and Mr Gichohi, due to which the hotel sometimes operated on cash basis because his co-receiver manager refused to sign cheques.
Mr Gichohi is expected to give his evidence Tuesday.
