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Mystery surrounding the dawn demolition of Deep West hotel associated with controversial businesswoman Joyce Akinyi deepened yesterday following claims the land it sits on belongs to the Ministry of Education.

The land had reportedly been leased to Akinyi and her estranged Nigerian husband Anthony Chinedu in 2002 but is owned by the Kenya School of the Blind.

Chinedu was deported from the country to his native Nigeria in 2013 .

The couple then put up the hotel under the name New Port Inn. Reports indicate the lease expired in January 2020 and the owners now claim Akinyi has not paid her rent since then.

They claimed that when the owners demanded for the rent, Akinyi filed an injunction at the rent tribunal court asking for more time to vacate. The rent so far accrued is Sh2 million.

The matter was scheduled for ruling on February 17 but the Presiding Judge Andrew Muma recused himself before delivering the ruling.

With the emerging reports the land belongs to the government, questions have now arisen over who may have hired the goons to demolish the hotel.

Akinyi said the damages were valued at about Sh500 million and also dismissed reports the land belonged to the government saying she will move to court to seek compensation.

“All those claims are just excuses to destroy my property. The matter was pending in court and I am sure of getting a good ruling,” she said.

Some officials said Akinyi had already leased part of the land to businessman Silas Imbanga at a fee of Sh5 million. Imbanga is the proprietor of Pittstop Bar and Restaurant along Langata Road. Imbanga also owns Tents Restaurant in Nairobi’s Buru Buru Estate.

“The lease expired and the Kenya School of the Blind did not wish to renew it since Akinyi had defaulted in rent payments for two years and also it had come to their notice that she was using the property for illegal activities including drug trafficking,” a senior official who sought anonymity told People Daily.

During the Saturday morning drama, the attackers wore balaclava and used bulldozers and other crude weapons to bring down the structures.

Sources indicate the goons, who are still guarding the hotel, at one stage opted to use explosives to bring down the building after the bulldozer broke down.

Police have claimed the hotel is used as a centre of narcotics trafficking but Akinyi dismissed the claims. Yesterday, the property was still heavily guarded by a group of youths armed with an assortment of crude weapons. The property provides a 24-hour front desk, room service and currency exchange for guests.

Akinyi was last in the news in 2019 when she was arrested by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) for allegedly trafficking in drugs.

She, together with another woman identified as Peris Omondi and a Congolese man Pauline Kalala Musankinshay,  were then charged with trafficking in the drugs valued at Sh5.5 million.

In March 2015, Akinyi together with her sister were arrested at the restaurant after they were allegedly found with drugs and the case is ongoing at Kibera Law court.