Emani Centre in Pangani which used to be the headquarters of Jubilee Party.
Twelve years ago, Ms Florence Wairimu, widow of Kiambu billionaire Joseph Kiarie Mbugua, secured a Sh387 loan at CFC Stanbic Bank.
The money was for construction of a commercial building on the family plot along Thika Road in Pangani, Nairobi.
The loan, which was advanced in installments of Sh250 million and Sh137 million in September 2012, was secured by the plot's title deed.
In that deal, she transacted as Farmers Industry Limited, which engaged a contractor, D. Manji Construction Limited, to undertake the development.
It was an agreed term of the loan facility that the income generated from the completed development would be applied toward the repayment of the loan.
Upon completion, the development referred as Emani Centre attracted various key tenants including the then ruling party Jubilee in 2016. The property started getting returns on investment.
Emani Centre in Pangani which used to be the headquarters of Jubilee Party.
However, a few years later, the tenants surrendered their leases and left the premises, leading to significant financial hardship and rendering the company, Farmers Industry Limited, unable to meet its repayment obligations. Jubilee Party also vacated the premises after the 2022 general election.
The landlord was unable to service the bank loan prompting the lender to resort to an auction. Attempts by Ms Wairimu and the company to forestall the intended auction were rejected twice at the High Court.
The first was through an application dated August 31, 2022 that sought to stop the auction and to obtain a loan statement from the bank for audit purposes. The application also sought determination of the true level of indebtedness by an auditor jointly appointed by the parties or the court.
The auction came after the debtor fell into arrears even after 2016 negotiations when the bank agreed to restructure the loan. At the time the outstanding amount was Sh234 million but the bank compromised it to Sh218 million and waived the interest.
While Ms Wairimu and her company had been making intermittent repayments to the bank, the lender claimed that they were insufficient to regularize their loan account and in February 2022 the bank commenced process of recovering the debts.
Jubilee Party headquarters along State House Road, Nairobi on April 16, 2025.
After conducting a valuation of the suit property, it instructed auctioneers who served upon Ms Wairimu and the company a 45-day redemption notice dated July 12, 2022 and an accompanying notification of sale. Subsequently, the property sale through public auction was advertised in the newspaper dailies on August 29, 2022.
Their bid to forestall the intended auction was rejected by the late judge David Majanja in a ruling dated February 17, 2023 after the court found that the bank had already provided an updated loan statement indicating the amount due. There was also evidence the borrower admitted receipt of the facilities and had promised to pay.
The second attempt was through an application dated March 21, 2024 and which was rejected in court last month on April 24, 2025 by Justice Peter Mulwa.
Ms Wairimu and her company had explained that efforts were being made to source alternative funds through the sale of another property owned by another entity known as Muringa Brothers Limited.
But Justice Mulwa said the application was similar to the one dismissed by judge Majanja.
A billboard of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto next to Emani Centre in Pangani which used to be the headquarters of Jubilee Party in this picture taken on January 12, 2017.
"I am persuaded that the present application, which seeks substantially similar relief as that previously adjudicated, offends the doctrine of res judicata and amounts to an abuse of the court process. It is therefore liable to be struck out on that ground alone. Having so found, it is unnecessary to consider the second issue regarding the merits of granting a temporary injunction," said the judge.
He found that the core issue in all the applications was whether the bank could be restrained from exercising its statutory power of sale over the suit property.
The bank denied that the plaintiffs had diligently serviced the loan facility on the due dates and stated that the facility was non-performing with an outstanding balance of Sh192.2 million as at April 5, 2024, exclusive of accruing interest.
Meanwhile, Ms Wairimu's company is embroiled in another court dispute with the development contractor, D.Manji Construction Limited, which seeking various reliefs including payment of outstanding money due to it.
D.Manji states that on October 23, 2012, it entered into an agreement and conditions of contract for building works with Farmers Industry Limited for construction of an office block on the suit property. A dispute arose over non-payment of the contract sum and consequently filed the court case.
In that dispute, Farmers Industry Limited also suffered a setback after court turned down a request to amend its defence to apply for an order that it overpaid the contractor Sh23.8 million. It also wanted compensation for Sh26 million in form of damages for the alleged delay in completion of the construction.
