Spousal Consent Becomes Kuria's Shield Against Equity Bank's Auction of Sh100m Assets

The attempted sale of two apartment blocks in Ruaka and Juja, properties linked to President William Ruto's economic advisor Moses Kuria has been significantly complicated by a legal challenge centred around spousal consent. 

Equity Bank, seeking to recoup a Sh 54 million loan extended to Kuria in March 2018, had initiated the auction through Garam Investments. However, a court intervention citing matrimonial property laws has cast serious doubt over the validity of the transactions. The Ruaka apartments were initially auctioned on April 8, 2025, achieving a top bid of Sh 62 million. 

However, shortly thereafter, High Court Justice Jacqueline Mogeni issued an order halting the transfer of the Ruaka property and preventing the sale of the Juja apartments. This decision followed a suit filed by Kuria's wife, Joyce Njambi Gathungu, who claims that both properties constitute matrimonial assets and that Equity Bank failed to obtain her legally required consent before using them as collateral for her husband's loan. 

Gathungu contends that she holds a proprietary interest in both properties, which she and her children have considered part of their matrimonial estate. She further alleges that Equity Bank disregarded her attempts to access loan documentation and her offer to assist in servicing the debt to prevent the properties' sale.

In court documents, Gathungu states, "The properties aforementioned were part of matrimonial properties, with my children and I living in my matrimonial home in the Ruaka property and having matrimonial rights in the Juja property." 

She also asserts that she was never served with sale notices or demand letters as legally required. Justice Mogeni's ruling highlights a growing legal challenge for lenders and property buyers: the issue of spousal consent. This has become a recurring obstacle in financial disputes, especially when matrimonial assets are used as loan security without both spouses' knowledge or approval. 

Courts are typically tasked with determining if both parties have a proprietary interest in the disputed property. If such an interest is established and spousal consent is not obtained, judges often nullify the transactions. The properties in question—the Ruaka apartments, valued at over Sh 60 million, and the Juja property, estimated at Sh 40 million—are now at the heart of this legal battle. Gathungu seeks to annul the Ruaka property auction and prevent the sale of the Juja apartments. 

Justice Mogeni has scheduled a hearing for April 30 to evaluate Gathungu's claims and determine the future of these properties. Notably, this is not the first attempt by Kuria to halt the auctions. A week before the Ruaka property was sold, High Court Judge Aleem Visram declined to issue an injunction to stop the sale, despite Kuria's argument that his financial difficulties were beyond his control. 

Kuria attributed his loan default to the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which he claimed disrupted the completion of the apartments due to rising construction costs. He also cited medical expenses resulting from an accident involving an electric blanket, which necessitated multiple surgeries.