Maanzoni Lodge closed indefinitely for defying ban on gatherings

The Maanzoni Lodge. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Maanzoni Lodge, a meeting and conference facility in Machakos County, has been closed indefinitely for hosting hundreds of youth in breach of government order on public gatherings as Kenya battles to arrest the spread of coronavirus.

Sources on Tuesday told the Nation that the young people, most drawn from informal settlements in the capital Nairobi, arrived on Sunday.

They spent Monday in training and meetings whose financier(s) and agenda were not immediately clear.

A standoff ensued at the facility on Tuesday morning as police and the hotel management faced off over the illegal meeting.

Police questioned the managing director Chris Musau and two youth who organised the event, according to Athi River Sub-county Police Commander Catherine Ringera.

But through its lawyers, the lodge held that it did not err in hosting the youth.

After hours of impasse, Machakos County Commissioner Esther Maina stormed the facility and ordered it shut following government directives on Covid-19.

More follows.