Akamba creditors put transporter’s key assets on sale

• The signal of its eventual death came two months ago when Treadsetters Tyres Limited — in a bid to recover about Sh40 million for tyres supplied to Akamba — filed a petition in High Court to wind up the company.
• The company’s tendrils through the region came to the fore in May when Uganda-based City Tyres Limited went to court to recover a debt of Sh2 million (USh68 million), further muddying waters for the bus firm.
• Akamba evokes nostalgia among Kenyans, having survived tough times in the past to become one of the most enduring long distance passenger and courier service providers. The firm was started in Machakos.
• The move to dispose of these properties comes as a final straw, ending the illustrious 57 years of public transport that served East Africa.

Creditors seeking to recover millions of shillings have put the Nairobi assets of Akamba Roads Services on sale, marking a dramatic end to the region’s once towering transport icon.

Also read: Akamba assets auctioned to recover Sh168m debt

In a newspaper advert yesterday, the creditors have listed the Akamba’s booking offices on Lagos Road and its industrial area headquarters among the property to be sold through public auction on Wednesday.

“Under instructions received from chargees advocates, we shall sell by public auction the properties together will buildings and improvements erected therein,” reads the public action notice placed by Garam Investments.

The Lagos Road office standing on 0.0861 acre has been held on a 99-year lease from 1946 and includes two single-room stone structures and several stores.

On Tom Mboya Street, the public transporter owns 0.1033-acre plot with a four-storied commercial building held on a 99-year lease with effect from 1952.

At its 1.966-acre Industrial Area headquarters located on Kitui Road, the company owns eight go-downs and three service sheds also held on a 99-year lease, since 1949.

The move to dispose of these properties comes as a final straw, ending the illustrious 57 years of public transport that served East Africa.

The signal of its eventual death came two months ago when Treadsetters Tyres Limited — in a bid to recover about Sh40 million for tyres supplied to Akamba — filed a petition in High Court to wind up the company.

Through its lawyers Mwaniki Gachoka & Company, the tyre supplier also appealed to other key creditors, KCB and DTB — owed a total of Sh300 million to form a common front in their debt recovery plan.

The company’s tendrils through the region came to the fore in May when Uganda-based City Tyres Limited went to court to recover a debt of Sh2 million (USh68 million), further muddying waters for the bus firm.

“Sale of these properties will be subject to the reserve price and land board consent where applicable,” the advertisement by Garam Investment said.

It was not immediately clear how the auctioneers will seal the intended transaction since the government is yet to publicly lift a ban it imposed early this year on the sale of public land.

Akamba had earlier sold its property in towns such as Mombasa but failed to clear its huge debts that included close to seven months of salary arrears.

Akamba evokes nostalgia among Kenyans, having survived tough times in the past to become one of the most enduring long distance passenger and courier service providers. The firm was started in Machakos.