A company that is owned by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga is set to build a multi-million luxury hotel in Kilifi.

The company known as Kango Enterprises Limited will build the luxury hotel at an estimated cost of Sh. 515,760,000 million.

Through a gazette notice, NEMA has already confirmed the receipt of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study report on the project.

“Nema invites members of the public to submit oral or written comments within 30 days from the date of publication of this notice to the Director-General, Nema, to assist the Authority in the decision- making process regarding this project,” the NEMA gazette notice, which was published on August 4, says.

According to a report that appeared in local media, Raila is listed as one of the directors at Kango Enterprises Limited.

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The mega project will be constructed on a 4.3 acres parcel of land. It will be situated about 100 metres from the shoreline.

A proposal shows that a two-storey block of the hotel and conference hall will take up the largest chunk of the land.

“On the first floor of the block will be 33 hotel rooms, spa, jacuzzi, sauna and steam rooms. A presidential suite and 19 more rooms will be built on the second floor, while the conference hall and other service rooms and offices will be on the ground floor,” the report in the Nation said.

“The other two-storey buildings in the plan are six blocks of two- bedroom and three-bedroom villas. The company also plans to construct a standalone presidential villa. The villa will have three bedrooms, a lounge, dining room, kitchen and gazebo, among other amenities.”

According to the report in the Nation, this project will be build in a land whose ownership was previously contested.

Raila’s company was “engaged in legal battles against British citizen John Presser Unsworth (now deceased) over the land’s ownership. In 2011, Mr. Odinga was in the dock at Malindi High Court where he testified that he bought the land from former Malindi mayor Frederic Kazungu Diwani,” the Nation reported.

“The court was informed that Mr. Diwani later sold the same land fraudulently to Mr. Unsworth. Diwani admitted the offense and was fined Sh. 800,000 in 2009.”

On August 5, 2022, the court ruled in favour of Kango Enterprises and ordered that Unsworth kin vacates the land. On June 5, 2023, a gazette notice was published indicating that a new title deed in favour of Kango Enterprises would be issued.