Chris Kirubi and Naushad Merali were two of Kenya’s foremost billionaire businessmen. The two died within weeks of each other. In life, weeks before they died, Kirubi and Merali were in battle over a real estate multi billion tender that was to be issued by the Kenya Defense Forces. The two tycoons’ firms were among those battling to win the lucrative KDF tender. Kirubi and Merali firms were competing with four Chinese firms to build 11,000 houses for the Kenya Defense Forces.
The “Ministry of Defense listed H.Young East Africa, a firm associated with Merali and a consortium of three local companies – Zutari Kenya, Blink Studio and NorthWind Consulting- led by Kirubi’s Centum Real Estate to battle for the projects to be spread across several KDF barracks. The four join China Gezhouba Group Company Limited, China Railways Construction Engineering Group, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation and China Railway Engineering Group Company Limited in the battle for the multibillion-shilling deal.”
The real estate project will be funded through the public private partnership arrangement. The Kenya Defense Forces will provide Sh. 1 billion for the first phase of the project.
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“The military has targeted 2,340 residential units in phase one of the project with the Nanyuki base taking the biggest chunk at 737 houses on 300 acres of land, followed by 610 units at the Kenyatta Barrack in Gilgil. Roysambu military base along the Nairobi-Thika highway will have 500 units on 15 acres of land and 125 houses will be constructed at the Lanet military base,” the report said.