Profitable hospitality: The Vohras’ have over the years managed to run Kenya’s second largest hotel chain

 Gurcharan Singh Vohra: ‘Chani,’ as he was fondly known, was a second generation Kalasinga who was chair of the Sarova Group.   Left: Vohra Sandy

The Vohras have over the years managed to run Kenya’s second largest hotel chain: The Sarova Hotels — co-owned with the family of former Kirinyaga MP, John Ngata Kariuki.

The journey of the Vohras began with their patriarch, Sardar Singh Vohra, who travelled from Rawal Pindi in the Himalayas and boarded a dhow that landed him on the shores of East Africa. He founded Sardar Singh Vohra Ltd, a bicycle dealership in Nairobi’s River Road, where he lived with his family.

Today, the Sarova Group comprises of the Sarova Stanley and Sarova Panafric in Nairobi, Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort and Spa in North Coast, Sarova Lion Hill in Nakuru, Sarova Taita Hills and Sarova Salt Lake Game Lodge in Taita Taveta, and Sarova Mara in the Maasai Mara. The acquisitions began when his son, ‘Chani’ Vohra bought the Ambassadeur hotel in 1974. The rest has been a history of profitable hospitality.

Gurcharan Singh Vohra: ‘Chani,’ as he was fondly known, was a second generation Kalasinga who was chair of the Sarova Group. As a philanthropist, he was instrumental in the famous ‘Bring Zack Back Home’ campaign in 2012 when he was patron of the Kenya Paraplegic Organisation.

His journey in business began at his father’s shop at the age of seven. Ten years later, he graduated from England’s Lincoln’s Inn in 1952 and opened Vohra & Gitau Advocates, specialising in criminal, divorce, family and common law in Nairobi. But it was in hospitality that he left his mark when he teamed up with John Ngata Kariuki, brother of spy chief, John Kanyotu, to found the Sarova Group in 1974.

Besides the Sarova hotels, the group also owns England’s The Bull (dating back to 1688), The Abbey’s and The Rembrandt in the heart of London - where the man was often spotted gassing his Mercedes Benz along Nairobi’s Argwings Kodhek Road. He died in 2013 at the age of 78.

Sandy Vohra: Chani’s son and director of the Sarova Group, and for whom he championed the Nairobi Greenline Project at Nairobi National Park in his memory. Sandy Vohra, a director at Sarova, died in a fatal road accident in Ethiopia in 2006.

The Sandy Vohra Foundation, founded in 2009, has funded the Sandy Vohra picnic sites at the Nairobi National Park, besides Sarova’s Sandy Vohra Centre for Learning and Development (SVCLD) was founded to “leverage business objectives at all levels.”

Minal Vohra: Director of the Sandy Vohra Foundation, while J S Vohra Vohra’s nephew is the current head honcho at the Sarova Group.