Hi Wazuans,

I need your wisdom again. If you had a hotel in the centre of Lamu old town, would you sell it now or will the prices go up further in the next 3-4 years?

My friend is in this situation. He is partnered with another guy and they own a nice jewel of a hotel on the island. There has been some problems with the partner and the business has been mismanaged. An audit report showed that a lot of money was lost through fraud. My friend himself is there only a few weeks a year while the partner has a Kenyan passport. It has been decided now that they will sell the hotel and my friend will recover some of the money lost. A buyer has shown interest.

I am opposed to this sale, arguing that it is better to find a lawyer and kick out the errant partner, as the prices will rise and there will be more business coming in from the port.

What do you guys think?

That is exactly my thoughts. It is not the right moment at all. But they had a big fallout and all my friend wants is to get his money and invest somewhere else. I think it is a really bad idea. The hotel itself is on the island away from the port construction, but I still believe that values will go up even there plus there will be a lot more business. It was fully booked when the 3 presidents were there a few days ago. And there will be more such functions, meetings etc. My suggestion is to keep it and make one big hall for conferences and meetings.

if the partner has Kenyan passport and your friend doesn't then he nerds to sell now it he will be the one being kicked out.
that said once partnerships detororiate holding on creates more misery