The Lower Eastern Times Opening The Third Eye
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The High Court of Kenya has permitted the auction of properties associated with former Cabinet Secretary Raphael Tuju after dismissing a case that sought to block the sale in a long-standing multi-billion shilling loan dispute.
In a ruling delivered on March 9, Justice J.W.W. Mong’are struck out an application filed by Dari Limited and Tuju, which aimed to stop the auction of two Karen properties — Entim Sidai Wellness Sanctuary and Tamarind Karen — along with Dari Business Park.
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The judge ruled that the application could not proceed because the matter had already been determined in previous cases.
“The Plaintiffs are now re-filing the same application in this suit which is clearly res judicata,” Justice Mong’are stated, noting that the amended case could not be sustained.
The court also lifted earlier temporary orders that had blocked the auction, allowing the lender and the appointed auctioneers to move forward with the recovery process.
The properties had been offered as collateral for a loan granted to Dari Limited by the East African Development Bank (EADB).
To facilitate the sale, the lender had appointed Knight Frank as the property valuers and Garam Investment Auctioneers to conduct the auction.
According to the ruling, the dispute had already been settled in earlier legal proceedings, including a summary judgment issued in June 2019 by the High Court of Justice in England and Wales, which directed the borrowers to pay more than $15 million under a loan agreement signed in 2015.
That judgment was later recognized and registered by the Kenyan High Court in 2020, and subsequent appeals against the decision were unsuccessful.
Justice Mong’are said the constitutional issues raised by Tuju’s companies were an attempt to revisit matters that had already been decided by several courts.
The dispute originates from a $9.3 million loan issued to Dari Limited in 2015 to fund property developments in Nairobi’s Karen area, including the Entim Sidai sanctuary and a luxury housing project.
After the loan went into default, the lender initiated recovery proceedings, with the amount owed increasing due to accrued interest and legal expenses.
The bank is now seeking to recover more than Sh4.5 billion through the sale of the properties used as security.
Previous attempts to auction the assets had been delayed by several court cases filed by Tuju and his companies. These included disputes over property valuation reports and claims that part of the development loan had not been fully disbursed.
However, several court decisions — including those from the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Kenya — have largely supported the lender’s right to enforce the loan security.
With the latest High Court ruling lifting the injunction orders, the lender can now proceed with the auction in an effort to recover the outstanding debt.
