Many know the former Cabinet Secretary of Sports Amina Mohamed and her late brother Esmael Mohamed Jibril who was the co-founder of Java Coffee House. In this article, WoK brings you the story of their little known brother Ahmed Jibril who owns the popular 748 Air Services Airline and wanted to construct a Ksh1 billion hotel in Runda.
Background
Ahmed Rashid Jibril holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from the University of Nairobi and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales. He is the founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of 748 Air Services.
748 Air Services
The airline was established in 1994 as part of an initiative to supply aid to Sudan when the country was affected by civil war but has since diversified to include passenger and other cargo services.
The company is an Air Charter Company that holds an Air Operator Certificate and an embedded Aircraft Maintenance Organization; both authorized by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority. Since its inception, the company has grown to become one of the most reliable air charter companies in the region. It caters to the humanitarian sector, natural resource sector and government institutions.
It is involved in the delivery of cargo to remote destinations and offers passengers services especially VIPs and delegations. The company currently operates in Kenya (Nairobi, Lokichogio), Somalia (Mogadishu), South Sudan (Juba), DRC Congo (Goma), Chad (Ndjamena, Gozbeida), Niger (Niamey) and Mali (Bamako, Mapato. The company built a camp in Lokichoggio in 2002 dubbed 748 camp which accommodates the crew and other NGOs staff.
Leadership of 748 Air Services
The company has Ahmed Rashid Jibril as the founder and Chairman, Moses Kamae Mwangi as the Managing Director, Fahim Hussein Mohamed as the Director of Quality & Safety and Deputy Managing Director, Rashid Abdi as the Commercial Director, Mahamud Tawane as Head of Quality and Maurice Juma as Head of Safety.
Other leaders include Marius Vosloo who is the Director of Maintenance, James Okech Nyadiang’a is the head of Base Maintenance, Charlesworth Hunter heads Flight Operations, Safiya Idd is the head of Human Resource and Mariane Vosloo is the Corporate Compliance Manager.
Building a Ksh 1 billion hotel
In 2017, Ahmed Jibril made headlines after his proposal to build a Ksh1 billion hotel in Runda estate caused an uproar among residents. Officials from the estate led by former anti-graft chief Patrick Lumumba claimed that the proposed 200-bed hotel and a 400 seater conference facility is in breach of the security requirements of the area.
In a letter addressed to the Ministry of Lands and the then Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero, the residents revealed that Mr Jibril purchased 18 plots in the area and was looking to change 15 of them from residential to commercial.
However Jibril, through his company Paddock Investments that was to construct the hotel, said that the construction would not breach any residential rules as alleged by the residents.
“I have good intentions and the area needs such an investment. All the approvals have been above board,” he stated.
The issue ended up in court and Paddock Investments was ordered to address the concerns raised by Runda residents, then seek Nema’s approval.
Other directors of Paddock Investments are- Amina Mulik Ali, ARJ Capital Limited, Sudhir Jayantilal Patel and Billow A. Kerrow. Jibril was the chairman.
