A former cabinet minister is now set to lose a prestigious six-storey hotel in Machakos town. Gideon Ndambuki will lose the hotel known as Poof Garden Hotel to auctioneers over a Sh. 80 million debt he owes the Housing Finance, HF.
Roof Garden is located near Kenyatta Stadium. It sits on 0.0389 hectares. The auction will take place following unsuccessful attempts by Mr. Ndambuki to stall the auction. Initially, Mr. Ndambuki had asked the court to stop the public auction and have the property sold off to Machakos Teachers Sacco.
This request was however denied, with the High Court ruling that Ndambuki was bound by the legal contractual obligations he had entered into with Housing Finance.
“The plaintiff has stated that he paid Sh. 4.6 million and not Sh. 5 million which amounts to prima facie default. Having admitted that he has not settled the arrears as agreed in the consent order, the bank is now entitled to exercise its statutory and contractual remedies,” Justice David Majanja ruled.
Gideon Ndambuki was a cabinet minister during the late President Daniel Moi’s administration. He had served as the cabinet minister in charge of Planning and National Development. Under devolved units, he unsuccessfully vied for the Makueni gubernatorial seat. In 2017, he was appointed chairman of the National Social Security Fund.
“Mr. Ndambuki’s Roof Garden Hotel has a restaurant, bar, kitchen and cashier’s office among other facilities on the ground floor and guest rooms on all other floors. It also operates a bar on the first floor. The auctioneer indicated that the title to the property is on leasehold with an annual rent of Sh. 3,030. The hotel earns a monthly income of Sh. 1 million,” a related report that appeared in the Business Daily said.
“The hotel is scheduled to be auctioned on September 29 at Garam Investment’s offices in Westlands, Nairobi. Purchasers must pay a deposit of 10 percent in cash or a banker’s cheque at the fall of the hammer and the balance in three months. They are also required have a bidding deposit of Sh. 1 million.”