Credit Bank, the Nairobi lender backed by Kenya’s influential Nyachae family, has secured Court of Appeal approval to auction a prime parcel of land in the Upper Hill financial district as it moves to recover a defaulted loan exceeding Ksh2 billion ($15.5 million).
The land once intended for a soaring skyscraper touted as Africa’s tallest has been tied up in years of litigation after the stalled developers, One Upperhill Towers Ltd, sought to block the sale. Judges declined to suspend the bank’s auction plans, clearing the lender to enforce its security over the property.
The ruling upholds a February High Court decision that had affirmed the bank’s right to proceed. Companies connected to the loan Jabavu Village Ltd and Hasscon Pharmaceuticals Ltd had argued that the auction should be delayed until all disputes were concluded. A previous 2023 injunction had paused any sale, but subsequent court reviews lifted the freeze, with Justice Peter Mulwa dismissing the borrowers’ latest plea, saying their application “must fail.”
Credit Bank, a medium-sized lender established in 1986, reported assets of Ksh27.7 billion ($214 million) as of mid-2024. The Nyachae family remains its largest shareholder, holding 27.1 percent through Sansora Group. Grace Nyachae, widow of the late politician and businessman Simeon Nyachae, continues to play a key leadership role as a founding director.
Even as the Upper Hill auction proceeds, the bank faces scrutiny in an unrelated dispute after appellate judges blocked the transfer of another property it acquired at its own auction for Ksh1.125 billion ($8.7 million). The borrower in that case, Erdemann Property Ltd, claims the land was undervalued and worth nearly Ksh2 billion.
