Aaron Makau was one the prominent businessmen in Machakos county who significantly contributed to the enduring legacy of T.Tot Hotel and the facelift of Machakos town.
Makau had multiple investments, particularly in the hospitality and the lucrative real estate sectors, with key buildings and plots within the Machakos Central Business District associated with him.
Reports have it that after his death in 2002, family disputes ensued as family members fought for control of Makau’s empire, notably the Machakos Town landmark T.Tot hotel, which reportedly was founded by Makau in the 1960s.
Word on the Machakos streets is that the business was inherited by his children, the second generation. However, his 2 sons could not agree on how to run the business and went their separate ways which which gave birth to green T.Tot and red T.Tot next to each other.
The owner of the green T.Tot Hotel was Abednego Nyamai Makau who prospered and diversified into other businesses and became a force to reckon with in Machakos Town. In sharp contrast, the red T.Tot is a far cry from what it was.
Following the entrepreneurial footsteps of his father, Abednego Nyamai Makau’s last investment was the construction of a four-storey Anam Towewrs that houses the ultra-modern signature TeaTot Hotel on its ground floor.
How late tycoon Stanley Githunguri distributed his multi-billion wealth
Having invested Sh 85 million into the hotel, it was sad that he died seven months after owning the multimillion Hotel.
Nyamai, who died at 49, was driving from Naivasha to Machakos when he met his untimely death along the Haile Sellasie-Uhuru Highway round-about in Nairobi in the wee hours of December 30, 2010.
Nyamai’s Toyota Prado car crashed, leaving his body lifeless on the road. At first, police reported his death as an accident, but a postmortem established that he was shot from the right side of his head.
A spent cartridge was found inside his car with his pistol and mobile phone missing. Nyamai was a licensed gun holder and had made claims that his life was in danger.
He cited an incident where thugs shot through T.Tot Hotel and another where he escaped an ambush at his gate in his Muthini Estate Residence.
Since the death of his father, succession issues unfolded between Nyamai and his other siblings, leading to the division of tycoon Makau’s family.
High schools that produced some of Kenya’s top tycoons
These fights are believed to have triggered the decision of Nyamai’s family not to lay him to rest in their ancestral home in Mbitini village on Iveti Hill, Machakos County.
The family chose to bury Nyamai in his residence adjacent to Garden Hotel after getting approval from the Machakos Municipal Council. The residence was a leasehold property that he bought from another Machakos Businessman.
Since his death, Nyamai’s T.Tot Hotel has been under the management of his widow Joyce Mwikali. Apart from his hotel business, Nyamai was involved in large-scale farming of poultry, vegetables, and dairy cows.
He also supplied water to residents of Machakos town. He was also involved in estate management and owned property in Machakos and Nairobi.
