Former Co-op Bank MD Mureithi loses more property to auctioneers

Thirty four parcels of land belonging to former Co-operative Bank managing director Erastus Mureithi were on Monday put up for auction over an unpaid bank loan.

The property, to be sold on December 5, mostly comprises plots of land near the Kenya Institute of Highways and Building Technology in Ngong, Kajiado County. The sale is due to failure to service a Sh1.6 billion loan that Mr Mureithi borrowed from a Nairobi bourse listed lender.

“They (plots) are situated in Kibiko area of Kajiado County about 3.5kms north-west of Ngong town and a kilometre off the Ngong-Kimuka road," read the auction notice by Keysian Auctioneers.

The parcels are registered under Suera Flowers.

Mr Mureithi, who ran the rose flower firm with his wife Susan, has faced a number of hurdles since quitting his job at Co-operative Bank in March 2001. Last month, part of his land was sold to rival Subati Group, marking the beginning of assets disposal aimed at settling the debt. A Kenya Gazette notice revealed that Subati Group acquired six parcels of land, belonging to Suera Flowers, in Nyandarua/Ol Joro Orok area for an undisclosed sum.

The sale of other property registered under Suera was spearheaded by Garam Investments Auctioneers who were hired by a local bank to dispose of Mr Mureithi’s assets including residential houses, office buildings, greenhouses with horticultural crops, water pans and cold rooms. Mr Mureithi’s eight units of four-bedroom houses in Nairobi’s upmarket Karen estate were also put up for sale in a notice and were expected to fetch Sh960 million.

An 89-acre prime agricultural land on the Nyahururu-Ol Kalou Road was to be sold for Sh393 million.

Most of the assets are in Nyahururu.