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Giant Moi-era contractors squirm as auctions widen
An excavator owned by Nyoro Construction Company. Since January, at least five construction companies from the Moi era have faced auction over unpaid bank loans and other facilities.
A growing number of giant construction firms, which won big-ticket jobs under the late president Moi's reign, have run into financial headwinds after losing ground in a transformed infrastructure landscape dominated by Chinese players.
Crescent Construction Company is the latest in a string of cash-strapped legacy contractors to face auction, having missed out on the building boom that began under the Look-East policy introduced during the late President Kibaki’s tenure.
Top Link Auctioneers has invited bids for a 5.24-acre parcel of land belonging to Crescent Construction Company over unpaid legal fees to Muriithi Kireria & Associates Advocates.
“The property is situated along Lunga Lunga Road, next to the Pembe Flour Mills Ltd complex in Industrial Area, Nairobi County, and registered in the name of Crescent Construction Company Limited,” reads the auction notice published on Wednesday. The sale is slated for October 22, 2025.
Since January, at least five construction companies from the Moi era have faced auction over unpaid bank loans and other facilities.
In May, Nyoro Construction—another Moi-era contractor—faced auctioneers over Sh860 million owed to KCB Bank after its legal efforts faltered. An attempt by its sister company, Asphalt Concrete, to block the sale failed after Justice Aleem Visram found Nyoro indebted to the lender.
Nyoro Construction, owned by businessman Josiah Njoroge Njuguna, has been in existence for over 40 years, executing various road projects, especially during the Moi and Kibaki eras.
Among the key multi-billion-shilling projects undertaken under President Kibaki were the construction of Processional Road, Nairobi, and the repair and rehabilitation of Nakuru town roads.
Others included the Mihuti–Kayu–Wanjerere–Rwathia and Githiga–Kibutha–Kanyenyaini roads in Murang’a, the Likoni Road Missing Link and Bridge, and the Nakuru–Njoro–Mau Summit roads—together worth Sh6.7 billion.
During President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration, the company won additional contracts such as the Murang’a–Gitugi and Njumbi–Mioro road, periodic maintenance of Junction A104 Nakuru–Nyahururu, rehabilitation of selected roads in Gikomba, and rehabilitation of Mumbuni–Kathiani roads, valued at Sh3.7 billion in total.
In April, the Court of Appeal saved Put Sarajevo General Engineering Company Ltd, another Moi-era giant, from the auctioneer’s hammer over an Sh800 million debt to three creditors.
Earlier in January, High Court Judge Helene Namisi had declared the firm insolvent for failing to pay Hamilton Harrison & Mathews (HHM), a tyre supplier, and the National Bank of Kenya (NBK).
Westbuild General Contractors Ltd, another Moi-era contractor, is operating under a temporary injunction after the High Court halted its liquidation.
In a ruling delivered on August 14, 2025, the court granted 90 days for NCBA and the company to reconcile accounts to ascertain the amount lawfully due under the legal charge(s).
In a ruling delivered on August 14, 2025, the court granted 90 days for NCBA and the company to reconcile accounts to ascertain the amount lawfully due under the legal charge(s).
The bank was also directed to provide Westbuild with detailed statements for each facility within 30 days of the ruling, and to obtain an independent valuation of Westbuild’s properties—including land and a block in Thika town—to establish proper market value before any sale proceeds.
Many of these legacy firms were later eclipsed by foreign contractors, particularly Chinese firms, who built mega projects beginning with the Thika Superhighway and a series of urban bypasses.
Several local firms have also decried growing government arrears, saying billions of shillings remain unpaid for completed works, some dating back to the Moi era.
Nyoro Construction, for example, has argued in court that much of its money is tied up in government debts. Treasury data shows that it is owed a total of Sh500 million by the Roads ministry.
Westbuild is owed Sh553,893,311 for two contracts: Embu Region (D470) Kyeni–Kathanjure–Karurumo Road (Lot 1) and Tharaka Nithi Region (D470) Chuka–Kaanwa–Kareni Road (30km, Lot 2).
Registered in 1965, Crescent Construction Company was an active player during the administrations of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi, with its fortunes—alongside many other “cowboy” contractors—beginning to dim after the election of President Kibaki in 2003.
On May 19, 2023, Justice Alfred Mabeya rejected an application by Khatib Ashraf, a shareholder of Crescent, to have the company declared bankrupt, noting he was neither a director nor a creditor. Ashraf had argued the firm was “technically insolvent” following the March 25, 2020, death of its founding director and managing director, claiming subsequent mismanagement, employee theft, and mounting creditor claims had pushed the company to the brink.
