Kericho hotel turns away MP, husband over marriage proof
A notice at Sunshine Hotel in Kericho. On July 14, 2018 the hotel's management declined to allow Laikipia Woman Rep Catherine Waruguru and her husband to share a room demanding they produce a marriage certificate. PHOTO | ANITA CHEPKOECH | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Ms Waruguru's husband, Kiprotich Kiget, a Nanyuki-based lawyer, is said to have booked a room at Sunshine Hotel at around 4pm.
- The management barred them from proceeding into their room demanding proof that they are married.
- Attempts by three local MPs who called the management seeking to intervene bore no fruit.
Laikipia Woman Representative Catherine Waruguru and her husband were Saturday evening turned away from a Kericho hotel for failing to produce a marriage certificate.
Ms Waruguru's husband, Kiprotich Kiget, a Nanyuki-based lawyer, is said to have booked a room at Sunshine Hotel at around 4pm and then left with his wife to his rural home.
But drama ensued when the couple returned around 9:30pm. The management barred them from proceeding into their room demanding proof that they are married.
INTERVENTION FAILS
Attempts by three local MPs who called the management seeking to intervene bore no fruit.
Two hours later, the couple later left for another hotel after getting a refund of their money.
"I feel I have been embarrassed as a leader. I have sought reasons and justifications from the management but nobody has answered my question," said Ms Waruguru.
"I have been here for one a half hours and have been exposed to cold which I am allergic to. Yet I have seen about 10 couples walk in and out without being asked for a marriage certificate," she added.
Ms Waruguru, who was in Kericho to visit her in-laws, said the incident had embarrassed her as a leader and that she would raise the issue in Parliament.
"We will not allow any more married women and men to suffer embarrassment in the hands of hospitality industry players who feel that it's is not about being able to afford the room but about a marriage certificate,” she said.
RIGHT RESERVED
Contacted, the hotel’s management said they reserve the right of admission and that their tradition of not admitting unmarried couples is always made known at the first instance to any customer seeking accommodation.
Hotel manager Frank Kirui told Nation that other than the rules being on the reception wall, the hotel had made it clear to Mr Kiget that in case he intended to share his room with a woman, they needed to produce a marriage certificate.
"When they returned, mheshimuwa was irked that they were asked for the marriage certificate. She became wild demanding to access the room. By then, we hadn't known she was an MP," said Mr Kirui.
Belgut MP Nelson Koech, who is one of those who tried to intervene, expressed rage over the hotel management's refusal to resolve the issue.
“My colleague Hon Sylvanus Maritim (Ainamoi MP) and I called the manager but they flatly refused to help. The nonsense of (demanding for a) marriage certificate is discriminatory, backward and totally unacceptable," said Mr Koech.
