MPs to sue hotel for kicking out Laikipia Woman Rep Catherine Waruguru

Laikipia Woman Rep Catherine Waruguru (centre) with Kandara MP Alice Wahome (left) and Kiambu Woman Rep Gathoni wa Muchomba at Parliament Buildings on Monday. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

Two women MPs have joined Laikipia Woman Representative Catherine Waruguru in condemning a Kericho hotel that kicked her out for failing to produce a marriage certificate.

The lawmakers threatened to sue Sunshine Upperhill Hotel and push for the withdrawal of its permit for embarrassing Waruguru and her husband, William Kigen, who had sought accommodation at the facility.

Waruguru is Kigen’s second wife. She said at a press briefing at Parliament Buildings that she was not embarrassed about it.

Yesterday, Waruguru, Kandara MP Alice Wahome and Kiambu Woman Rep Gathoni wa Muchomba said hotels had no business with what “a grown up man and woman do in their hotel rooms”.

Ms Wahome said she would lodge a legal suit under Kenya Women Parliamentary Association (Kewopa) as well as push for the withdrawal of the hotel’s licence.

Turned away

“This hotel will face a legal suit. Catherine has since written to me as a lawyer to follow up the matter. They need to take this as notice as we are going to demand that their licence be withdrawn,” said Wahome. 

Muchomba also narrated a similar encounter a couple of years ago in the company of her husband, Robert Mbugua.

She claimed they were forced to drive all the way to Nakuru after being denied accommodation by two hotels on the same grounds.

“We were late and decided to look for a place to sleep. I booked a room together with my husband before we left for Kericho town for dinner. Robert and myself went back to the hotel and to our shock were turned away,” said Muchomba.

“We even showed our rings to them as proof that we were legally married. My husband’s ring has my name engraved and mine has his. They refused. We had to drive to Nakuru after two other hotels - whose names I can’t remember - also denied us accommodation,” she recalled.

The legislators termed the experience as embarrassing and nasty, and which should not happen to anybody.

They said so many people were married but did not have marriage certificates, and risked being humiliated should the hotel continue operating under its current policy.

“Let couples enjoy what they have to enjoy. What business does a receptionist have with what a man and a woman are up to in their hotel room?” posed Muchomba.

Security threat

Waruguru questioned why the hotel accepted their booking only to kick them out late in the night.

“We were not a security threat, neither did we cause nuisance, disturbance or looked disorderly. We paid to enjoy the facility in a dignified manner,” Waruguru said.

She explained that they had visited her in-laws before they decided to spend the night in Kericho town. The hotel requires couples to produce a marriage certificate before they can be accommodated.