A case in which a hotel in Kwale county has been sued for discriminating a tour operator by refusing to allow him access the facility on Monday failed to start for lack of witnesses.
In the case, Duncan Muriuki, who is the owner of Destination Africa DMC Ltd, has sued Baobab Beach Resort & Spa Ltd based in Diani, Kwale, for alleged discrimination. He has accused the resort of discrimination and of barring him from accessing the hotel.
The case had been scheduled for hearing before High Court judge Antony Mrima but it could not proceed since the witnesses from the hotel who had been listed to testify in the case were not present, forcing the judge to adjourn until Tuesday.
Lawyer Wilfred Nderitu, representing Muriuki, said he was ready to proceed with the case without further delay. He told the court that the case has been pending since 2013.
Muriuki who has been in and out of court since 2013 seeking justice in the case, says he believes the case is of great public interest.
In his court papers, Muriuki claims that on February 7, 2012 at about 7am, he visited the resort to pick up guests when he was denied entry.
He said security personnel denied him entry to the hotel precincts due to the management's policy to exclude small tour operators.
In August, the judge had dismissed the application by the resort seeking to bar the media from covering proceedings in the case.
Mrima had said that the case against the defendant is of public interest and that the application to bar the media from covering the case has no merit and is ill intended.
"I hereby dismiss it and allow the media to cover the proceedings in open court," said the judge.
The judge also said that the media will be allowed to cover the proceedings otherwise there are no tangible reasons advanced to enable the court to keep out the media from the public interest matter.
Through his lawyer Nderitu , Muriuki has urged the court to bar the managers of the resort from hindering his access to the facility where he takes guests on tours.
"I cannot believe that in this day and age, some beach hotels at the Kenyan Coast will not allow locals to enjoy the services which they advertise. I am sad that some hotels still discriminate against people based on colour,” said Muriuki in his evidence to the court.
This comes after the hotel wrote him a letter of apology “for the unpleasant experience at our resort’s main gate a while ago.”
