Former Jubilee Party Secretary-General Raphael Tuju is facing the auction of yet another prime property after the East African Development Bank (EADB) stepped up efforts to recover a debt that has grown to about Sh4.5 billion from a loan advanced more than a decade ago.
The lender has instructed Garam Investments Auctioneers to sell Entim Sidai Wellness Sanctuary in Karen on August 25, 2026, marking the second major property linked to Tuju to be put up for sale in the ongoing debt recovery process. The latest move comes months after another of his properties changed hands following a court-backed auction.
According to a public auction notice issued by the auctioneer, the Karen property sits on about 20 acres and includes a large colonial-style residence.
“The property is developed with a well-maintained, spacious colonial house, partly double-storey and partly single-storey, with nine ensuite bedrooms,” reads part of the auction notice.
The sanctuary is one of the properties that Tuju offered as security for a $9.3 million loan advanced by EADB to Dari Limited in April 2015. At the current exchange rate, the original loan is worth about Sh1.2 billion. However, the outstanding amount has since risen to about Sh4.5 billion after interest, penalties and other charges accumulated over the years.
The planned auction follows a High Court ruling issued on May 21 that temporarily stopped the sale of the property. The court directed Tuju to deposit Sh50 million in court within 30 days and file an appeal challenging the proposed sale within 60 days. It further ruled that failure to meet those conditions would automatically lift the temporary orders blocking the auction.
While granting the temporary relief over Entim Sidai, the court declined to interfere with the sale of Tuju's other properties, Tamarind Karen and Dari Business Park. It ruled that his right to cancel the transaction ended once the auction had been completed and ownership transferred to Stabex International co-owner Jackson Kiplimo Chebett in 2024.
The property was subsequently acquired by Ultra Eureka Ltd, a company owned by Chebett, for Sh450 million on October 1, 2024. After taking ownership of the 6.8-acre property, the company used the title as security for a $2.5 million loan, equivalent to about Sh324 million, from Kenya Commercial Bank.
Court documents show that Entim Sidai was originally a Victorian bungalow before Tuju unveiled plans to convert it into a retirement village under the Karen Retirement Home project. The 20.2-acre estate features a colonial residence, a wellness sanctuary, a clinic, a massage parlour, a restaurant and conference facilities.
The financing arrangement with EADB was structured in two phases. The first tranche of $9.3 million was intended to finance the acquisition of the Karen property where luxury retirement villas were to be built. A second tranche worth Sh294 million was meant to fund construction of the planned development.
Tuju has consistently argued that the lender breached the loan agreement by failing to release the second tranche of Sh294 million, which was to finance the construction of 30 three-bedroom maisonettes on one property and eight five-bedroom maisonettes on another.
EADB has maintained that the money could not be released because the conditions for the second drawdown had not been met. The lender says these included the submission of architects' certificates confirming completion of agreed works within the drawdown period, as well as additional security through Tuju's Upper Hill property.
The dispute has kept Tuju and the regional lender in court for years, with the latest planned auction marking another chapter in the long-running battle over the recovery of the loan.