Ndichu brothers’ viral video incident, what we know so far

Emara Ole Sereni Hotel in Nairobi. [Courtesy]

The Group CEO of Emara Ole Sereni Hotel, Ghulam Samdani, has confirmed the October 17-night incident in which two city businessmen, and who happen to be twins, were involved in an altercation and whose video has gone viral,  saying the matter was under investigation by the police.

“The hotel security intervened immediately to prevent further violence and the manager on duty promptly contacted the police who took control of the matter,” Samdani said.

The four-star hotel distanced itself from commenting on details of the incident because no arrests had been made so far.

Meanwhile, city businessman Eddie Ndichu has stepped down as a member of the Board of the Fintechs in Kenya following the spiralling of the Saturday night altercation video at the Mombasa road hotel.

In a special notice dated October 19, 2021, the board said the move was to pave way for a formal investigation.

“On the 19th of October, the Board convened a special meeting during which Mr Ndichu stepped down as a board member pending formal investigations into the matter,” the notice read in part.

Paul Ndichu and Eddie Ndichu, co-founders of Wapi Pay. [Courtesy]

At around 1630 hours, the Directors of Wapi Pay announced that the two brothers, both in the start-up's executive positions would step aside to allow for the investigation to take its course.

The board says it will conclude on the matter within the next 30 days as it named a new interim CEO.

According to our reporter Duncan Khaemba, who was at Akilla Police station in South C, the women have made a complaint of assault and damage to property. They avoided cameras and said they are not ready to speak to the media.

Prior to this, the twins (co-founders of Fintech startup; Wapi Pay) had in a statement jointly said that the allegations in the video on social media did not depict the true events that transpired that night.

“To be clear, Paul and Eddie got involved in an attempt to neutralise a confrontation between two women and to defend themselves from certain aggressors.”

Also in the statement, the duo requested ‘restraint potentially and unfairly spreading misinformation that has no factual basis.

“To be clear, Paul and Eddie got involved in an attempt to neutralise a confrontation between two women and to defend themselves from certain aggressors.”

The viral video captures a man in a white T-shirt and black baseball cap vandalising a side mirror from a car parked at the hotel entrance.

He then walks back to the hotel lobby towards two women and a man who are involved in what looks like a scuffle.

The 44-second video shows the man in the white T-shirt joining the other three and roughing up one of the women as one man in a suit unsuccessfully tries to restore normalcy.

{Additional Reporting by Duncan Khaemba}