Auctioneers have issued former Cabinet Secretary in the Jubilee administration, Raphael Tuju, with a 45-day notice to pay a Ksh4.5 billion loan owed to a regional bank or face auction of his prime properties located in the Karen area of Nairobi.

In a letter to Tuju dated the 24th of July 2024, Garam Investments Auctioneers say they have received instructions from Kaplan and Stratton advocates on behalf of the East African Development Bank (EADB) for the sale, by auction, of his Dari Business Park and Entim Sidai Wellness Sanctuary properties on the 1st of October 2024 if he fails to pay the bank USD 35,057,622 (approximately Ksh 4.5 billion) he owes.

“We have been instructed by Messrs. Kaplan and Stratton Advocates on behalf of the East African Development Bank to sell the above-mentioned property by public auction. We therefore on behalf of the Chargee hereby give you notice of forty-five (45) days from the date of service of this notice, within which time you may redeem the property by paying a sum of USD 35,057,622.14 as at 30th June 2024 on which interest continues to accrue + GBP 100,000 failing which we shall on expiry of the period of notice sell your property by public auction on 01.10.2024 AT 11.00 A.M At Our Offices Located On 5th Floor, Western Heights, Karuna Road Westlands, Nairobi,” the letter to the Tuju reads.

In the accompanying notification of sale documents issued by the auctioneers, it is indicated that Entim Sidai Wellness Sanctuary – located off Tree Lane in Karen – is valued at Ksh 1.395 billion as of the 15th of July this year whilst Dari Business Park – located along Ngong Road – has a value of Ksh 590 million as of the same date.

For the sale of Entim Sidai, the Auctioneers indicate that they will charge a sum of Ksh 24,497,200 and Ksh 12,291,100 if the property is not sold; while sale charges for the Dari property will be Ksh 10,490,200 and if the property is not sold, Ksh 5,287,600.

The auction notice follows a long dispute between Tuju and EADB over a USD 9.3 million facility the former minister took from the bank in April 2015 to partly fund the acquisition and development of commercial units for sale in Nairobi – and which he is yet to honour.

The matter has dragged on in court starting in the United Kingdom, the High Court and Court of Appeal in Kenya, and presently before the Supreme Court; with rulings in the three courts ahead of the Supreme Court affirming the need for the debt to be repaid.

In the Court of Appeal judgement dismissing Tuju’s appeal, the judges noted: “At the end of it all, we think the appellant is merely hanging onto technicalities to avoid his just obligations arising from the contract of guarantee.”