Former Cabinet Secretary Raphael Tuju has gone back to the High Court saying he is ready and willing to settle over Sh2.3 billion debt owed to a regional bank arising from a botched loan deal.
Mr Tuju pleaded with the court to order a status quo and let the matter to be handled by the court-annexed mediation under supervision of the High Court.
The East African Development Bank, however, objected to the application saying the matter was in the hands of the Supreme Court and there was no dispute to be referred to mediation.
High Court judge Alfred Mabeya said in a ruling that the court is alive to the fact that a lender is not barred from recovering its outlay or realise its security in a case of default.
“However, what happens where the borrower says he is ready to pay but for the actions of the lender?” the judge posed as he ordered the status quo be maintained.
Last month, the Supreme Court dismissed Mr Tuju’s application seeking to block two receiver managers appointed by the regional lender from taking over the contested property in Karen.
While rejecting the application, a bench of five judges of the apex court said EADB is a reputable lender that can compensate him should his appeal be successful.
“We are satisfied that the respondent remains a reputable international bank that should have no difficulty compensating the applicants if the applicants succeeded in their claim,” the Supreme Court said.
At the High Court, Mr Tuju, Dari Ltd, and his children said they had secured alternative funding from other lenders and were willing to pay the loan, under supervision of the court.
“That the applicants are able, ready, and have always been willing to settle the debt with interest accrued subject to a reconciliation and negotiation on the amount due to the 1st respondent,” said Mr Tuju.
The judge directed the parties to file and exchange their submissions within 10 days and appear before him on December 13.
“The applicants are apprehensive that should this application not be certified as urgent and heard forthwith on a priority basis, the respondents will proceed and enforce the debenture, unfairly occasioning grave injustice and irreparable harm upon the applicants,” his lawyer Paul Muite submitted.
The lender opposed the application and in the affidavit, Mr David Odongo, acting head of the country business, Kenya revealed that the debt stood at $16,550,608 as of December 20, 2019.
He said the bank was not interested in mediation as the matter has been in court for the last four years and the Tuju’s have not paid even a cent. The bank revealed that the last payment of $10,000 was in August 2016.
“The applicants have consistently remained uncooperative and in breach of their contractual obligations since the inception of the project,” he said.
In the deal agreed upon in April 2015, the lender was to loan the Tujus $9.3 million to finance the purchase of a parcel of land and the development of housing and hospitality facilities on the parcel.
