Bishop Yego loses bid to save prime city property auction

Retired African Inland Church (AIC) Bishop Silas Misoi Yego has lost bid to stop a commercial bank from auctioning his property in Kileleshwa, Nairobi for defaulting a Sh140 million loan.

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

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

He moved to court to challenge the auction saying the bank had undervalued the property and that the outstanding balance was Sh86 million not the Sh143 million quoted by the lender.

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

But Justice David Majanja ruled that since Bishop Yego admitted the indebtedness, he cannot suffer loss that cannot be compensated by damages.

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

"According to the correspondence between the parties, the plaintiff has been in default since 2019. He has not met promise to settle the debt despite several offers by the bank to accept settlement," said justice Majanja when dismissing the application to restrain the bank from auctioning the property.

The judge said 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.

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

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