A long and complicated debt dispute involving former Cabinet Secretary Raphael Tuju has reached another critical stage after the High Court of Kenya cleared the way for lenders to move forward with plans to auction two of his high-value properties located in the upscale suburb of Karen in Nairobi.
The decision came after the court dismissed a last-minute attempt to stop the sale of the properties, bringing an end to yet another legal effort by Tuju and his company to block recovery of a loan that dates back nearly a decade.
The ruling was delivered by Justice Josephine Wayua Mongare, who stated that the dispute had already been determined in earlier court proceedings and could not be reopened again.
According to the court, the issues raised in the latest case had already been addressed in previous judgments.
The judge said the matter was “res judicata,” a legal principle that prevents courts from hearing cases that have already been decided. Because of this, the amended suit filed by Tuju and Dari Limited was struck out, effectively removing the latest legal barrier that had been standing in the way of the planned auction.
The dispute traces back to April 2015 when Tuju’s company secured a loan from the East African Development Bank. Court records show that the loan later went into default, prompting the lender to seek recovery through legal action.
The situation soon developed into a lengthy legal battle that involved courts both in Kenya and abroad.
In June 2019, the High Court of Justice ruled in favour of the lender and ordered the borrowers to pay more than 15 million US dollars.
That decision gave the bank the legal authority to begin enforcement measures to recover the debt.
The foreign judgment was later recognized by the High Court of Kenya in 2020, allowing the lender to pursue recovery through assets located in the country. From that point, the focus shifted to the properties that had been used as security for the loan.
Tuju and his company challenged the enforcement in several courts, but those attempts were unsuccessful. The Court of Appeal of Kenya upheld the enforcement decision in 2023, strengthening the lender’s position.
The matter eventually reached the Supreme Court of Kenya, which declined to suspend the enforcement orders.
Despite those setbacks, Dari Limited returned to court in October 2024 seeking fresh orders to stop the auction.
The company asked for temporary injunctions to prevent the sale or transfer of the Karen properties. Although interim orders were briefly granted while the case was being considered, the lender and auctioneers later filed applications asking the court to dismiss the case completely.
After reviewing the record, Justice Mongare agreed that the new case was essentially an attempt to revisit issues that had already been settled by earlier judgments. Her ruling removed the temporary protection that had been stopping the auction process.
The properties at the centre of the dispute include L.R. No. 11320/3, which houses the Entim Sidai Wellness Sanctuary on Tree Lane, and L.R. No. 1055/165, where Tamarind Karen and Dari Business Park operate along Ngong Road. Both properties sit in Karen, one of Nairobi’s most valuable commercial and residential areas.
With the latest ruling now in place, lenders are free to proceed with recovery efforts. After years of legal challenges across multiple courts, the planned auction of the Karen properties now appears closer than ever.
