NAIROBI, Kenya — A tense standoff unfolded at a disputed Karen property owned by former Cabinet Secretary Raphael Tuju after auctioneers and private security guards made a second attempt to take control of the premises as part of a court-sanctioned debt recovery process.
The confrontation occurred at the Dari Business Park in the upmarket Karen area, where Tuju has refused to vacate despite claims that the property has been sold to recover a multi-billion shilling debt.
Tuju, who addressed supporters and journalists at the site, declared that he would not leave the premises under any circumstances.
“They will have to kill me first and organise a big burial for me in Rarieda before they take this property,” he said, insisting that the ownership dispute remains active before the courts.
Witnesses at the scene said a group of individuals accompanied by security personnel from Lavington Security attempted to enter the property earlier in the day, escalating tensions at the site.
According to Tuju, individuals he identified as Chebet, Kiprono, and Kiprop had allegedly arrived claiming they had purchased the property and were moving to take possession.
However, the former Cabinet Secretary dismissed the claims, arguing that the matter remains unresolved in court and accusing the trio of attempting to intimidate him.
Tuju further alleged that the effort to remove him from the property forms part of a broader attempt to pressure him during the ongoing legal battle over ownership of the Karen premises.
The dispute took another dramatic turn earlier this week after several individuals were arrested at the property during a separate incident linked to the case.
Tuju claimed that those arrested included a former judge, a lawyer and a broker who allegedly visited his residence claiming to act on behalf of a judge attached to the Commercial Division of the High Court.
According to Tuju, the trio allegedly sought money in exchange for influencing the outcome of court proceedings related to the property dispute.
Authorities have not publicly confirmed the allegations or provided details of the arrests, but the claims have intensified attention on the high-stakes legal battle surrounding the property.
The Karen land dispute is part of a long-running financial and legal conflict involving billions of shillings in debt and court-supervised recovery proceedings.
Despite the mounting legal pressure and repeated attempts to enforce the recovery process, Tuju maintained that he would remain at the premises until the courts conclusively determine the ownership question.
The situation at the Karen property remained tense on Wednesday as the dispute continued to play out both in the courts and on the ground, drawing public attention to one of the country’s most closely watched property and debt recovery battles.
