From London to Nairobi: Inside Raphael Tuju’s 9-year loan battle over prime Karen property

Tribulations facing former Cabinet Secretary Raphael Tuju stem from a 9-year court battle that docked English shores before commencing in Kenya, exhausting all the levels of the country’s judicial hierarchy except the Supreme Court.

It all began 11 years ago; precisely the year 2015, when the East African Development Bank (EADB) granted the former Rarieda MP a loan of Ksh.943.9 million to fund the acquisition and development of commercial units for sale in Nairobi.

The deal, according to court papers seen by Citizen TV, was given a 24-month grace period, a timeline that lapsed in 2017.

In November 2018, contending that Dari Limited, a company registered under Tuju’s name, failed to repay the disbursed loan as per the agreement penned, the EADB filed a case against Dari Limited in the High Court of Justice Business and Property Courts of England and Wales in the United Kingdom, with Tuju and his company duly filing a defence to the claim.

In June 2019, the EADB obtained a judgement against the appellants in London, and filed an application at the High Court in Nairobi under the Foreign Judgments Reciprocal Enforcement Act for recognition, registration and enforcement of the judgment in London.

In January 2020, Lady Justice Wilfred Okwany allowed the prayers sought by EADB ordering for the recognition, registration and enforcement of the Judgment in London.

Dari Limited unsuccessfully applied before the same court for orders to set aside the recognition of the judgement.

In April 2023, three years after the High Court ruled in favor of the admission of the London Judgment, and with the theatre of the multi-billion case shifting to Nairobi, Dari Limited filed an appeal seeking orders on the contention that the judgment in London was obtained fraudulently.

Justices Kathurima M’Inoti, Kibaya Laibuta and Gachoka Paul Mwaniki of the Court of Appeal ruled that the appeal by Dari Limited had no merit, observing that at the end of it all, the appellant (Dari Limited) was merely hanging onto technicalities in order to avoid just obligations arising from the contract of guarantee.

Discontented, in September 2024, Dari Limited (under receivership) and Raphael Tuju as a second applicant moved to the High Court (Commercial Division) seeking an order of temporary injunction to block the EADB and Garam Investment Auctioneers from disposing of properties including Entim Sidai Wellnes Sanctuary of LR No.11320/3, Off Tree Lane, and Tamarind Karen and Dari Business Park, off Ngong, Karen of LR No. 1055/165, arguing that the bank sought to unlawfully recover the monies owed under the agreement.

Lady Justice Njoki Mwangi, in her determination, ruled that valuation of the agency properties by Knight Frank, a global real estate consultancy headquartered in London on the 15th July, 2024 can be ascertained, declaring that the balance of convenience tilts in favor of EADB, allowing the bank to recoup the facility it advanced to Dari Limited.

A month after the ruling, Dari Limited, Raphael Tuju, his children Mano Tuju, Alma Tuju, and YMA Tuju filed another suit in October 2024, seeking orders to prevent the EADB and Garam Auctioneers from auctioning the properties, and after nearly two years of deliberations, Lady Justice Wambua Mongare dismissed the suit, allowing the application by the bank and the Garam Auctioneers.

Tuju, has since written to Chief Justice Martha Koome, complaining about the conduct of some judicial officers and their integrity, while questioning the process to grant auctioneers leeway to auction of his property in Karen to proceed.