Row rages over ownership of KICC as Kanu claims it

Updated Monday, July 15th 2013 at 21:12 GMT +3

By Kenneth Kwama

Kenya: The dispute over the ownership of the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) has festered for long.

Independence party Kanu rekindled the row last year after listing it among its assets in filings to the Registrar of Political Parties.

The building was thought to be the property of Kanu until former President Mwai Kibaki’s Narc swept to power and forcibly wrestled it away from the party in 2003. It has since become a leading venue for regional conferences.

But the big question still remains: who owns the KICC?

East African Standard carried a story on July 16, 1973 that could give pointers to ownership of KICC.

The story titled Kanu building ready for world conference provided a detailed account of construction work that was still going on at KICC.

“Brisk construction work is going on round the clock on the modern and towering £3.9 million Kenyatta Conference Centre, and architects are confident they will beat the deadline and have the centre ready for the World Bank Conference next September,” stated the paper.

Ultra-modern building

According to the paper, the 28-storey tower block was equipped with ultra-sophisticated electrical equipment and had been hailed as one of the best and latest conference centres in the world by the architect, Mr K H Nostvik and the consulting electrical engineer Mr T W E Fitton, then Chief Electrical Engineer at the Ministry of Works.

The building still stands enigmatic, but has since lost some of the bragging power to newer, more sophisticated towers. There are at least five buildings that stand taller than the KICC in Nairobi. Currently, the tallest building in the city is the 38-storey, 140-metre Central Bank Tower.

The second-tallest building in the city is the Teleposta Towers, standing at 120 metres tall with 29 storeys. The most recent skyscraper to be constructed, the Delta Office Centre completed in 2012, is 75 metres tall, making it the 12th tallest building in the city.

Nairobi’s history of towers began with the Hilton Nairobi (1969), the NSSF Building (1973), and the KICC in 1974.

Last year, Kanu Secretary-General Nick Salat said the party had listed the building among its assets that are valued at Sh6 billion, making Kanu the richest party in the country.