By Joshua Narkash
The High Court has refused to grant an order halting the auction of two parcels of land belonging to Moses Kuria, the former Trade Cabinet Secretary and current senior economic adviser to President William Ruto. The auction, scheduled for Tuesday, April 8, was ordered to proceed as part of the repayment for a loan of Sh54 million owed to Equity Bank.
In 2018, Kuria took out a Sh50 million loan from the bank to finance the construction of a storey building intended for rental purposes. However, he faced difficulties repaying the loan, leading the bank to seek the sale of his assets.
Kuria had rushed to court, seeking an injunction to prevent the auction, arguing that he had made efforts to negotiate new repayment terms and that the Covid-19 pandemic had severely impacted his project. Despite these claims, Justice Aleem Visram ruled on Monday that Kuria had failed to meet the legal requirements necessary to stop the auction. The judge noted that all attempts to renegotiate the terms of repayment had been unsuccessful and that there was no valid reason to prevent the bank from exercising its statutory power of sale.
Kuria also submitted that he had already repaid Sh5.7 million of the loan and expressed goodwill to continue servicing the debt. However, Justice Visram emphasized that this was not sufficient to grant the order, as the bank had the legal right to proceed with the sale.
The planned auction, which is being conducted by Garam Auctioneers, will go ahead as scheduled, marking a significant moment in the ongoing legal and financial saga surrounding Kuria’s loan repayment.
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