Dubai is renowned world business and leisure destination, but Roofings Group Executive Director Oliver Lalani remembers the place for meeting his sweatheart Akira.
“One night I accompanied my father (Sikander Lalani the Roofings chairman) to a disco where I met this beautiful lady of mine,” he told his guests during a reception at Kampala Serena Hotel the previous weekend.
It is becoming a norm that weddings of daughters and sons of the rich families are done abroad. Recently business tycoon Sudhir Ruparelia’s daughter, Meera married her lover Ravi Kotecha in London while Tirupati Development Uganda, real estate developer boss Miraj Barrot and Kruti Bharat wedded in India and also held a reception at Kampala Serena Hotel.
Oliver and Akira’s wedding was not different. He had to travel to the Far East in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia to tie their marriage knot before the Kampala ceremony. Whereas, Indonesia has been prominent in textile manufacturing, especially for the trademark Nelson Mandela shirt, the county has turned out to be Oliver’s second home as this is where his wife Akira hails from.
Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi and his wife Jacqueline were the chief guests at the Serena event, hailing the Lalani family for creating jobs for Ugandans in their business empire and contributing to economic development of Uganda. Other notable guests included Minister for East African Community Affairs Shem Bageine, senior citizen Dr Martin Aliker and his wife, Alam Group managing director Abid Alam, Crown Beverages chairman Amos Nzei, former finance minister Gerald Sendaula, and prominent lawyer Elly Karuhanga among others. Isaiah Katumwa serenaded the guests as they wined and dined.
