Newvision.co.ug issued the following statement today regarding the validity of this article: We reported that the Shumuk Group of Companies had bought Hotel Diplomate, Muyenga and Emerald Hotel on Bombo Road, Kampala. We have since established that this was inaccurate. Any inconvenience is highly regretted.
After the undisclosed owners failed to pay a Barclays Bank loan, the Shumuk Group has acquired the multi-billion Emerald Green Hotel on Bombo Road in Kampala. The group also owns the Muyenga-based Hotel Diplomate, formerly owned by city businessman Boney Katatumba. The hotel will be managed by Shumuk Properties, the group’s subsidiary company.
Godfrey Ochiel, the general manager, disclosed that the hotel would be renamed Shumuk Emerald Green Hotel. “It (hotel) will be a four-star vegetarian hotel, a wellness center with yoga meditation, and the first of its kind in Kampala with special attention to the health provision through special ayurveda and health treatment with natural herbs,” Ochiel said.
Yoga and ayuveda are ancient Indian sciences of life for positive mental and physical health, a legacy that has been passed through centuries. “We are dedicated to retaining the old traditional values yet contemporary enough to fit them into the lifetime of today’s world. Our team of professionals will offer authentic yoga and ayurveda healing holidays,” Ochiel said.
Ochiel explained that the 20-bedroom hotel would have three conference halls with sitting capacities of 1,000 guests each. It will also have an in-house shopping mall, a travel bureau, and a lush garden for parties. He said US$2 million (about sh4b) would be injected in the constructing of additional 80 rooms to transform it to a 100-bedroom hotel.
He said their dream was to make the hotel one of the most sought-after tourist destinations in Uganda. The new project would create over 200 jobs, Ochiel told journalists during a press briefing in Kampala.
