High speculation about where US President Barack Obama will stay while in Kenya continues to grow as his arrival to the country this evening July 24, 2015 draws nigh.
The rumour mill is rife that the US President may stay at the Swiss-headquatered Villa Rosa Kempinski Hotel along Waiyaki Way.
Many locals had initially billed the presidential suites of either Hotel InterContinental, The Sankara Nairobi, or Villa Rosa Kempinski for Obama’s stay in Kenya.
Hotel Intercontinental
Hotel Intercontinental along City-Hall Way near Parliament Buildings is part of the international chain InterContinental Hotels & Resorts that was a brainchild of former United States President Franklin Roosevelt.
It’s Nairobi hotel has a rich US connection having hosted prominent US government officials such as Obama himself when he visited Kenya as a senator in 2006, current US Vice President Joe Biden in 2010, as well as US Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice and Collin Powell when they officially visited the country while in office.
Prominent US officials are known to stay at InterContinental hotels across the world, during state visits.
Sankara
The current United States Secretary of State John Kerry stayed at Westlands-based Sankara Hotel when he visited Kenya recently just two months ago in May 2015.
As such, it would be justified to assume that the US government would easily choose a hotel it has lately worked with in hosting a high-profile state official.
Kempinski
1. Going by the traffic update released yesterday July 23, 2015, access to Kempinski Hotel is out of bounds on Friday and Saturday.
This evening, when Obama is expected to arrive to Kenya, the road from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), through Mombasa Road, Uhuru Highway, Chiromo Road and Westlands Roundabout will be closed between 3pm and 10pm.
Again, all day Saturday, the public cannot access Westlands where the hotel is based from the CBD using University Way roundabout.
The same Saturday, when Obama is expected to attend the GES Summit at UN complex in Gigiri, Forest Road, Limuru Road and UN Road is prohibited to the public. From Kempinski to Gigiri, these three roads are crucial.
On Saturday evening, the State dinner between Presidents Uhuru and Obama with invited guests will be held at State House. From 3pm to 11pm there will be no access to Kenyatta Avenue, State House and between University Way and Westlands.
2. A drill, involving the bulletproof presidential limousine ‘The Beast’ and police escort, was carried out this morning from Uhuru Highway into Kempinski Hotel. A similar drill also went down at the UN Complex.
3. A staff member at Kempinski disclosed to Tuko.co.ke that there has been FBI and Secret Service presence at the hotel all week.
The staff spotted ‘The Beast’, which was fueled in the nearby Shell Westlands petrol station on Wednesday July 22, parked at the hotel this week.
Both the Kenyan and the US governments have naturally kept the information about where Obama will stay under wraps. -Tuko
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