The National Bank of Kenya (NBK) has placed Nyakoe Hotel in Kisii County under receivership over a long-running dispute over a debt of undisclosed size.
This makes it the second hotel placed under receivership by the lender within 24 hours— an indication of an assertive push by the bank to recover money owed to it.
The lender said Kamal Anantroy Bhatt of accounting consultancy firm Anant Bhatt LLP has been named joint receiver manager of Nyakoe Hotel from August 18, 2025.
“The purpose of this notice is to notify all interested stakeholders that following the receiver’s appointment, the affairs and business of the company shall be directed by the receiver,” the bank said.
Attempts to established the debt owed to NBK by Nyakoe Hotel were unsuccessful by press time. Nyakoe Hotel, which operates under the Pebo Kenya Limited umbrella, was established by businessman Peter Bogonko Onchango, who died in June 2024.
The placement of the three-star Nyakoe Hotel under receivership comes after previous unsuccessful attempts to auction it to settle the debt to NBK.
Receivership is initiated in instances where a company is unable to pay its debts to a secured creditor.
NBK on Wednesday also appointed Kamal Anantroy Bhatt to drive the operations of Nairobi Upper Hill Hotel.
This comes after several unsuccessful attempts to auction the four-storey property located on Mawensi Road owned by businessman Geoffrey Wahome Muotia.
Mr Muotia was granted an overdraft of Sh10 million, a commercial mortgage of Sh236 million, and a term loan of Sh35 million totaling Sh281 million exclusive of interest and bank charges, in September 2014.
The bank alleged that he defaulted on loan repayment, Mr Wahome had previously accused the lender of frustrating his efforts to have the loan taken over by another lender by referring him to Credit Reference Bureaus, thereby ‘clogging his right to redeem his property’.
Mr Muotia challenged another forced sale in 2023, accusing the auctioneer of undervaluing the property.
The businessman claimed in court papers that when registering the charge in April 2014 for Sh281 million, he made massive improvements, yet the auctioneer placed the value at Sh700 million as market value and Sh525 million on forced sale.
Mr Muotia added by October 2019, the value had risen to Sh1.05 billion due to general appreciation of the properties in the area and other considerations.
"That despite the above and considering the property appreciation in the Upper Hill area as advised by various Real Estate consultants in their updates to clients, the bank and the auctioneer has placed the value at Sh277.5 million as forced sale value and which is far much lower than the value it was charged in 2014,” he said in application at the Court of Appeal, which was later dismissed.
