David Langat, a media-shy millionaire, has spent decades at the crossroads of politics and business, dividing his time between strategizing for Deputy President William Ruto and naturing his multibillion-dollar enterprises.
Langat, a reclusive tycoon, made news in July 2021 when he was discovered accompanying the DP on a special business trip to Uganda.
Along with President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, Ruto was set to lay the foundation stone for a Biological Drugs and mRNA vaccine production plant in Matuga, Uganda.
At the time, the two appeared to have patched up following a two-year feud that saw Langat leave the DP in 2019 to join Chama Cha Mashinani (CCM), which is led by former Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto.
When he initially joined DP Ruto's campaign in 2007, he was a key member of the DP's inner circle, even campaigning alongside prominent businessmen like Joshua Kulei and Zedekiah Bundotich Kiprop, alias Buzeki.
Langat began his commercial career more than three decades ago when he founded the omnipresent DL Group in the mid-1980s with the goal of making it one of Africa's top groups of companies, which he has since accomplished.
One of the DL Group's first commercial operations, according to its profile, was the export and import of goods such as electronics and furniture.
"The DL Group ventured into the tea manufacturing industry through the DL Koisagat Tea Estate in Nandi County, in the Great Rift Valley, from humble beginnings in the coastal city of Mombasa.
"This gave it a foothold in the tea business, from which it has since been able to expand into Tanzania, where it is now the largest Tea producer," according to the company's website.
Nyali Super Centre alias Nyali Mall, perhaps Mombasa's largest mall, is owned by the firm at the Coast, where it was founded. Langat also owns Sunrise Resort and other high-end beachfront properties.
Nyali Mall is a 330,000-square-foot mixed-use development including office space, stores, supermarkets, restaurants, and showrooms.
"I've travelled a lot in terms of conducting business in many nations and have been inspired by other countries' progress." I believed that as a country, we were lagging behind in terms of industrialization, which is when the concept was born.
"The finest thing I did was acquire property, and my main plan was to perform conventional industrial work at the time." In a previous interview, he noted, "My concentration was agro-processing."
The tea tycoon owns the Koisagat Tea Estate in Nandi County, the Kapchepet Tea Factory in Kericho County, and Selenkei Investments Ltd, a solar energy firm.
In 2016, The Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) Mombasa brand awarded him the greatest business leader in Mombasa County.
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