Thirteen individuals have been apprehended in relation to an assault on staff and property damage at a Diani Beach hotel. This incident occurred subsequent to a forced entry by individuals acting on behalf of receivers involved in a loan dispute with Kenya Commercial Bank.
Pinewood Beach Resort and Spa’s management disclosed that the 60-bed hotel was over 50 percent occupied when the assailants forcefully entered on November 17, 2023. Workers, including security personnel, were subjected to physical assaults during the incident.
As per a report from Diani Police Station, the hotel’s owner, Mr. Ahil Kanji, reported that approximately 100 individuals, armed with machetes and various crude weapons, attempted to enter the premises. However, security guards successfully repelled them in a violent confrontation.
The police report indicated that three staff members sustained injuries during the altercation, while the hotel’s general manager, Pamela Mishai, asserted that a total of 18 individuals were injured.
“The arrested goons are to be charged with malicious damage to property, assault causing actual bodily harm, causing a disturbance in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace and trespassing on private property,” says a police report from Diani Police Station. It adds that a German adult male staying at the hotel lost his Canon camera in the melee. The police said that no guest was injured in the commotion.