The hard economic times in the country have left non-untouched, with even prominent personalities struggling to keep their assets over unpaid bank loans.
Renowned Citizen TV anchor Jeff Koinange was on Monday, April 6, put up for auction over a Ksh130 million debt.
According to a report published by Business Daily on Tuesday, April 7, the houses, which sit on 0.67 acres and have a servant's quarter, are located in Kitusuru area.
The news anchor is said to have defaulted on the loan payment in 2019 and a local bank seeks to recover at least Ksh65 million from each of the two villas.
The publication stated that Koinange was living in one of the villas while the other, he had rented out.
Initially, the rented house was used by the media personality, to store his art.
Garam Investments, which is leading the auction, stated that bidders required to have a deposit of Ksh 5 million.
"The bidders will be required to produce a bidding deposit of Ksh5 million by way of cash or bankers cheque before being allowed to bid," read an advertised post by Garam Investments.
In previous years, Kenya's real estate sector was the best investment vehicle but the narrative is slowly changing.
In an interview with The Standard on March 5, 2020, Garam Investments Managing Director Joseph Gikonyo disclosed that only one property out of 10 auctioned properties was finding a buyer.
“The overall economy is doing badly. The county governments are not paying suppliers, and this has to have an impact,” Gikonyo stated.
“KRA is another issue; it’s going hard on SMEs with tax demands. Businesses are closing rather than struggling. It’s hard to auction in such an economy," he added.
