Yego property auction fixed as court bid flops

Auctioneers have re-advertised retired African Inland Church (AIC) Bishop Silas Yego’s prime Kileleshwa property over Sh143 million owed Transnational Bank following a failed bid by the clergyman to stop the sale.

Purple Royal Auctioneers said Wednesday the forced sale will take place on September 8.

The sale comes after the end of the 45-day deadline after the retired bishop lost his bid to stop the bank from auctioning his property in Kileleshwa in court.

“The sale of the property is subject to a reserve price and all interested buyers should view the property to verify the details as they are not warranted by the auctioneers,” says the notice.

OUTSTANDING BALANCE

Bishop Yego, through his trading company Siro Investments, borrowed the money from Transnational Bank in 2014 to construct 50 apartment units on the property.

But last year he failed to service the loan, prompting the lender to instruct Purple Royal Auctioneers in April to recover the loan through a public sale.

He had moved to court to challenge the auction, saying the bank had undervalued the property.

The outstanding balance, the clergyman argued, was Sh86 million, not the Sh143 million quoted by the lender.

He also complained that the bank had failed to issue him the required notification of sale.

But High Court judge David Majanja ruled that since Bishop Yego admitted the indebtedness, he could not suffer loss that cannot be compensated by damages.

Justice Majanja added that the cleric understood that the bank was entitled to seizure and auction of property upon default.

The judge observed that Bishop Yego based his complaint on the fact that he had entered into a sale agreement with a third party who was willing to buy the property at Sh200 million.

The bishop had attached a sale agreement made between him and Peter Kivolonzi, who had agreed to purchase the suit property for Sh200 million.

He told the court that the sale derailed in the wake of Covid-19, whose effects has sharply cut sales and reduced appetite for properties.

Bishop Yego, 71, has since disputed a forced sale valuation of Sh123.75 million and an open market valuation of Sh160 million of the apartments.

He joins a list of former President Daniel arap Moi confidants, including Hosea Kiplagat, a former Cooperative Bank chairman, fighting seizure and auction of their assets over loan defaults.