Peter Gethi is the owner of the Ksh3 Billion Rosslyn Riviera Mall located in the posh Runda area, Nairobi County. He is the son of Ben Gethi who served as the second post-independence police commissioner from 1978 to 1982 during the reign of late former President Daniel Arap Moi.
Gethi, an accomplished businessman and corporate leader, is also the director of Thaara Limited which developed the mall, and Marua Limited.
The former police boss’ son holds a BSc (Hons) degree in Agriculture Economics from the University of London and has expansive managerial experience in Agriculture Business Management.
He sits on the boards of various companies in the country. On December 17, 2009, he was appointed to the Board of Liberty Kenya Holdings. He has previously served as a General Manager at Kilimanjaro Plantations Limited (TZ) and Senior Group Manager at SCEM Limited (formally Standard Chartered Estate Management).
According to the Liberty Holdings website, Peter Gethi currently works both as an Agricultural Consultant and is involved with Real Estate Development as Managing Director of Nebange Ltd.
He is also the Chairman of Heritage Insurance Company Kenya Limited and Liberty Life Assurance Company Kenya Limited and a director of The Heritage Insurance Company Tanzania Ltd, Stanbic Holdings Limited and Stanbic Bank Limited.
Peter Gethi serves on the Audit and Risk Committees of Liberty Kenya Holdings Plc (formerly Liberty Kenya Holdings Limited) and Heritage Insurance Company Tanzania Limited.
Rosslyn Riviera Mall
Located in Kenya’s affluent Runda Estate the mall which rests on a 4.5-acre piece of land opened its doors to members of the public in 2017. It serves the people from Runda, Muthaiga, Kigwaru, Nyari, the United Nations complex in Gigiri, and Ruaka.
Construction of the mall began in late 2014 and is said to have cost Ksh3 billion. The is 18,211 square metres and 116,000 square feet of retail space occupied by shops, restaurants, and entertainment and wellness outlets.
Rosslyn Riviera boasts a mix of local and international brands with Chandarana Foodplus as the anchor tenant. Other brands at the mall include; Coffe Nove, German Point, News Café Cape Foods, Aristocrats Forex Bureau, Healthy U, jewellers Gemessence Ltd, Spot On Entertainment, Liquor City, Mimosa Pharmacy, Micos Ltd, Thola Glass and RAGS Ltd.
“The development is informed by the same story of rising consumer spending by the growing middle class. However, ours is different because it is styled as a neighbourhood mall,” Gethi, who inherited the land from his late father, said during the ground-breaking ceremony in 2014.
The mall has more than 350 parking bays, and is designed as a family-friendly establishment where residents can frequent for shopping and fun activities.
In 2018, South Africa’s Vantage Capital, reportedly Africa’s largest mezzanine fund manager, invested $8 million into Rosslyn Riviera Mall.
“Rosslyn Riviera is a state-of-the-art shopping mall, developed to extremely high standards, with all the right characteristics we consider befitting the only modern neighbourhood mall in Kenya. It is located in a prime affluent area in the city of Nairobi. Direct access to a major highway provides the tenants with excellent visibility including abundant conveniently accessible parking for their customers.
“The mall has managed to attract high-quality tenants such as Chandarana Supermarkets, Java House, News Café and Nairobi Hospital and is led by a very competent management team. This investment in a leading retail property development in the heart of Nairobi demonstrates Vantage Capital’s commitment to Kenya and the East African region as a whole,” Mokgome Mogoba, Associate Partner at Vantage Capital said.
Land Row
In November 2019, Peter Gethi and his family won a 303-acre land case after a 48-year court battle.
The Gethi family battled two others, the families of Ndurere Muhunyu and Benjamin Ithinyai, over the ownership of the 303-acre piece of land located at Murichu village in Ndaragwa constituency, Nyandarua County. The families had claimed that the land had been gifted to their fathers by Harry Wallis, a colonial farmer.
In early 2019, David Kimengere, David Gitonga, Ngotho Ndurere and Muthami Ndurere moved to court on behalf of Muhunyu and Ithinyai (both deceased), suing Angela Wairimu (Gethi’s widow) and her company, Murua Limited where Peter Gethi is also a director, for fraudulently acquiring ownership papers for the property.
Wairimu and Gethi however denied the accusations, maintaining that the family has legal documents to show that they rightfully own the land.
The land is currently registered under Murua Limited – a company whose directors are Wairimu, and her son Peter Gethi.
