For Cabinet Secretary Raphael Tuju’s Dari Coffee and Garden Restaurant has been auctioned. According to a report that appeared in the Standard Newspaper, the upmarket restaurant got a buyer in early October at a price of Sh. 450 million.
The auction was conducted by Garam Auctioneers. “This particular property was successfully sold on October 1, 2024, for Sh. 450 million,” the Standard quoted a source at Garam Auctioneers.
The auctioneers also put up for sale the Entim Sidai wellness sanctuary. These properties were place on sale by Garam over a Sh. 4.5 billion loan that Tuju defaulted.
Tuju had in 2015 received a US$9.3 million from the East African Development Bank (EADB) for the purchase of a 20-acre parcel of land. The land was intended for housing and hospitality development.
The bank claimed that Tuju then defaulted on repayments leading to a series of long-running court battles as the bank sought to recover the loan through auctioning of the properties.
The contested properties were advertised for auctioning in September. The auctioning was set to take place on October 1, 2024. However, Tuju moved to court under a certificate of urgency to stop the sale. He alleged that the East African Development Bank unlawfully issued notifications of sale.
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Tuju’s application was declined on September 30. “The balance of convenience tilts in favour of the bank, which should recoup the facility it advanced Dari Limited,” Judge Njoki Mwangi ruled.
On October 7, Garam placed a second advert that only listed Entim Sidai for sale. “Under instructions received from the chargee’s advocates, we shall sell by public auction the prime hotel, Entim Sidai which sits on 20.2 acres,” Garam announced in the advert.