NAIROBI, Kenya – The High Court has declined to stop the auction of two parcels of land belonging to former Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria over a Sh54 million loan default.
Kuria, who now serves as a senior economic adviser to President William Ruto, had moved to court seeking to block the sale of the properties located in Kiambaa and Juja, which were used as collateral for a Sh50 million loan he took from Equity Bank in 2018 to finance a rental apartment project.
However, Justice Aleem Visram ruled on Monday that Kuria had not met the legal threshold for the court to intervene in the bank’s exercise of its statutory power of sale.
“There is no valid ground to restrain the bank from exercising its statutory power of sale. It is evident that all efforts to renegotiate the terms of repayment and handle the matter amicably had failed,” said Justice Visram.
The court also noted that all statutory notices required before the auction had been properly issued.
Kuria told the court that the bank had only released Sh40 million of the agreed Sh50 million loan, forcing him to seek alternative funding for the stalled project.
He also cited the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, rising construction costs, and his own prolonged illness as reasons for his failure to complete the development and meet repayment obligations.
Despite claiming to have repaid Sh5.7 million and showing “goodwill” to settle the debt, documents presented in court revealed that Kuria stopped servicing the loan in June 2022.
The outstanding amount had ballooned to Sh54 million by 2024 due to accrued interest.
The planned auction, to be conducted by Garam Auctioneers, is scheduled for Tuesday, April 8.
Kuria served as Gatundu South MP before joining President Ruto’s Cabinet.
He was moved out of the Trade Ministry in a recent reshuffle and now serves in the Office of the President.
