Keekorok Lodge to pay Chinese tourist Sh423m for wife’s murder

 

Keekorok Lodge has been ordered to pay Sh423 million to the family of a Chinese tourist who was stabbed to death at the lodge in 2016.

Dong Yi, the husband of Luo Jinli, sued the management of the hotel in Maasai Mara Game Reserve for negligence after Luo was killed on August 8, 2016.

The court awarded Mr Dong Sh100,000 for pain and suffering, loss of dependency of 21.5 million yuan (Sh422 million), Sh727,000 for funeral expenses and 23,728 Hong Kong dollars (Sh424,800) as special damages.

Dong was seriously injured during the incident. Evidence was that the couple was stabbed by Lee Changpin, a Chinese tour guide, allegedly over sitting space during dinner.

The 45-year-old woman was a security manager in Beijing and was in the company of her husband and scores of tourists.

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They checked into Sun Africa Hotels which trades as Keekorok Lodge Maasai Mara on the fateful day and in the company of their tour guide identified as Bai Jiang.

The family went to dinner at the restaurant but a verbal exchange between Luo and Mr Lee ensued. The tour guide was holding a steak knife during the quarrel.

The assailant is said to have demanded that they leave their table, prompting an argument before he stabbed both in the chest.

Justice Francis Gikonyo said fighting in restaurants is not unforeseeable. “The defendant did not take reasonable measures to ensure the security of the plaintiff and the deceased in the restaurant,” the judge said.

The judge added that prudence in security and risk management for such establishments is to proactively and continuously identify, assess risk areas and prescribe appropriate measures to mitigate risks.

“The evidence and circumstances of this case is an indictment of the defendant (the hotel) for breach of duty of care. The defendant did not seek indemnity or contribution from third parties it attempted to blame for the accident,” said the judge.

The hotel defended itself saying there was adequate security and the tourists failed to report the incident.

Mr Joseph Leshornat, the front manager at the hotel said the facility was crowded and that the guests went for dinner after arriving from game drive. The hotel, he said, places steak knives on the table.

He said the team leader Mr Bai was to blame because he never brought the incident to the attention of the security as the quarrel was in Chinese.

Mr Dong through his lawyer Conrad Maloba submitted that the hotel owes a duty of care to guests.

The lawyer said Luo was earning Sh2 million annually and her dependants included her mother, mother in-law and her husband.

The court said whereas there were guards outside patrolling the restaurant, there was nothing to show that there was any systems or security arrangement in place to respond to any security lapse or incident promptly.

“It was surprising for him to say that the guests concerned were speaking in Chinese language at the top of their voices but no one responded from the hotel to find out what was happening or save the situation,” the judge said.

Mr Dong sued the hotel in 2019 for pain and suffering, damages for loss of dependency and damages for loss of life expectation and special damages.

“In light thereof, the court finds and holds the defendant to be wholly liable for breach of duty of care to the plaintiff and the deceased,” the judge said.

By SAM KIPLAGAT