Lake Naivasha Resort is a Sh 1 billion, 96-room hotel which is styled as a conference-cum hodiay destination, located near Lake Naivasha in Nakuru County.
The luxurious hotel, which offers spectacular views of hippos diving and emerging from the depths of Lake Naivasha, is the property of Ms Rahab Mwihaki Karoki.
The resort made headlines shortly after President Ruto won the August 9, 2022 elections, hosting the president and his troops as they discussed the country’s legislative agenda.
Since then, Lake Naivasha Resort has held numerous conferences for state corporations, ministries, county departments, and other parastatals.
In 2024, the hotel won a Ksh 209.1 million contract when it hosted the second National Executive Retreat, which was attended by the president, his cabinet secretaries, and their principal secretaries.
This was only one of the 257 public contracts that the hotel has been awarded, according to data from the Public Procurement Information Portal.
According to Business Daily, this was the highest number of contracts that had been awarded to any supplier since President Ruto assumed office in 2022.
Ms Mwihaki, who has mastered the art of keeping a low profile, co-owns the hotel with her five children, a son and four daughters.
The family also owns other Naivasha-based hotels such as Sweet Lake Resort and Masada Hotel, which have won a total of at least 31 government contracts since 2022.
Away from Naivasha, the family owns Pearl Palace and Hadassa resorts in Nairobi.
They have also invested in real estate, with records showing that the family owns Formation House and Amber House in Mfangano Street.
They also own other buildings such as the former Quran House, Lenana Forest View Apartments, and Brighton House.
Ms. Mwhihaki, who is clearly a billionaire, prefers playing cards close to her chest, a skill that has seen her cut mega deals with the who-and-whos of this region.
According to Business Daily, she pocketed Sh 380 million after selling the iconic Nairobi Delta Hotel to former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu, with other records indicating that she also made good money during former president Uhuru Kenyatta’s regime.
While limited public information is available regarding how Mwihaki built her empire, court cases with her husband Daniel Karriyo in 1999 and 2008 provide a sneak peek into how the billionaire may have made her wealth.
In the court records, Mr Kariiyo alleged that Mwihaki used one of his properties in Garden Estate to secure a loan of ksh 3 million from Equity Bank, which she used to boost her business ventures.
He claimed that although he was entitled to half of the loan proceeds, Mwihaki did not give him a single cent.
Mr Kariiyo further stated that after the couple’s divorce, Mwihaki paid off the loan using two family businesses which he had entrusted her to run.
During that period, his electronics business fell apart since he could not take another loan to revitalize it.
He had therefore filed cases seeking sh 25.3 million in compensation for the losses that his business suffered.
“I filed this suit after my wife left me. If my wife had not left, I would not have filed this suit because we would have used the money as a family,” Kariiyo told the court.
However, the court ruled in favour of Mwihaki, with the judge noting that she was the one who had applied for the loan and repaid it.
She then returned the title deed to Mr Kariiyo and went on to build a business empire for herself and her children.