Nairobi Upper Hill Hotel is on the verge of being auctioned after a bid to stop the forced sale flopped in court.
The High Court sitting in Nairobi granted the National Bank of Kenya the nod to auction the hotel in the prime area after dismissing a fresh attempt by hotelier Geoffrey Wahome.
Justice David Majanja dismissed the application by the hotel, seeking to halt the sale to be conducted by Keysian Auctioneers.
Majanja noted that the lender was entitled to exercise its statutory power of sale and dismissed Wahome’s application.
Wahome wanted the court to stop the bank from seizing the property over a Ksh281 million acquired in 2014.
“I agree with counsel for the bank that the plaintiff (UpperHill hotel) does not have any standing to agitate this suit in respect of a property in which it lacks a proprietary interest,” the judge stated.
The auctioneer will now proceed and advertise the sale of the four-storey property in the local dailies, inviting potential buyers for the hotel, which is located in the prime Upper Hill area.
Wahome had initially secured a Ksh281 million loan against the property in 2014, which was guaranteed by the property.
The lender accused him of defaulting on the loan repayment, forcing the National Bank of Kenya to engage auctioneers to recover the money but the hotelier blamed the poor structuring of financing systems for the challenges local hoteliers have experienced in repaying their loans.
According to Business Daily, Wahome further stated that his attempts to have the loan taken over by another bank were frustrated by the National Bank of Kenya after the lender referred him to Credit Reference Bureaus (CRB) thereby ‘clogging his right to redeem his property’.
The auctioning of property explains the current state of Kenya’s economy which saw various people lose their assets due to debts.
Other than hotels, luxury houses, and cars have also been hit by the auctioneer’s hammer due to default.
