Raphael Tuju in Court to Block Bank from Auctioning His Assets over KSh1.5 Billion Defaulted Loan

Jubilee Party Secretary-General Raphael Tuju moved to the court seeking to block auctioneers from selling his properties after he defaulted on a loan of KSh1.53 billion.

The loan, meant for the development of luxury homes in Nairobi’s Karen suburb, was taken from the East African Development Bank (EADB), according to a report by Business Daily. Part of the loan was meant for the construction of KSh100 million two-storey, flat-roofed houses on a 20-acre land known as the Entim Sidai.

The publication reported that Tuju will return to the High Court on Friday to know his fate after Justice Maureen Odero on December 24th, 2019, temporarily blocked the bank from auctioning his properties. Tuju is said to have failed to service the loan after the property market slumped down, making it difficult for developers to sell housing units.

“In complete disregard of the deliberate efforts by the plaintiffs (the Tujus) to return the project on profitable trading, the defendant (EADB) has proceeded to appoint receiver managers over all the assets of the plaintiff to engage in the sale and realization of the plaintiff assets and properties as its primary option,” Tuju says in court documents.

On its part, the bank says Tuju had defaulted on the loan since 2017, pegging the amount at KSh932.7 million. The loan was also meant for the purchase of a 94-year-old bungalow that was put up by Scottish missionary Albert Patterson and which currently operates as a restaurant.

The bank noted that it entered into an agreement with Dari Limited over the multi-million-shilling restaurant that is under the company in April 2015 and paid it a sum of KSh943 million. 

It added that two years on, the company failed to pay up to KSh186 million in accrued interests, accusing Tuju and his family of ignoring notices to pay up and breaching an agreement.