Auctioneers have landed on Thika tycoon Julius Gitau's property, months after he was allegedly kidnapped by unknown individuals and locked in a safe house in Gatundu North.
The auctioneers are seeking to repossess property valued at Ksh80 million from Gitau in order to recover a defaulted debt of Ksh18 million.
Among properties that are set to be auctioned include 0.0482 acres in Majengo area of Thika where a five-storey Kaharati Apartments sits and Happy Valley residential plot measuring 0.1927 acres.
Gitau, a multi-millionaire, worked his way to business glory by starting as a hawker.
However, when Covid-19 hit the country in March 2020, his businesses were affected and had to take loans to keep them afloat.
It is around the same time that he was allegedly kidnapped at gunpoint, sedated and taken to a house in Gatundu, where he allegedly worked as a houseboy for 75 days.
Before his disappearance, he had allegedly written a suicide note indicating that he was undergoing an economic havoc following the Covid-19 pandemic.
When he finally appeared, Gitau was met with notices from auctioneers plastered on his shops. After a couple of months, Gitau set up a kiosk at Thika town's main bus park.
The Kiambu County Business Community, in his support, say that they view his current predicament as a collective crisis.
"We have several options we are exploring, including seeking a strategic partner to buy off his loans so that his collateral can be freed," Alfred Wanyoike, the chairman of the business community stated.
"We can also move to court for stay orders pending negotiations with the creditors. Alternatively, we can get competent buyers of one of the properties which will fetch enough money to offset the loan."
