Bishop Yego gets nod to fight Transnational Bank auction

Retired African Inland Church (AIC) Bishop Silas Misoi Yego has secured a reprieve after the commercial court in Nairobi stopped Transnational Bank from auctioning his property for defaulting a Sh140 million loan.

Justice David Majanja granted the temporary injunction, which will last 14 days, to enable Bishop Yego to challenge the auction order at the appellate court.

The bank had already instructed Purple Royal Auctioneers to auction Mr Yego’s property in Kileleshwa Nairobi.

Bishop Yego, through his trading company Siro Investments, borrowed the money from Transnational Bank in 2014 to construct 50 apartment units on the property.

However, the project ran into trouble after third parties who had committed the buy the apartments bolted.

He had moved to the Court of Appeal after justice Majanja last month dismissed his application for a permanent injunction restraining the bank from recovering the millions through public sale of the property.

My Yego, 71, last year retired from the church after serving for 45 years and was close to the late President Daniel arap Moi who was linked with Transnational Bank before its sale to Nigeria’s Access Bank this year.

He also challenged the auction saying the bank had undervalued the property and that the outstanding balance was Sh86 million not the Sh143 million quoted by the lender.

He also complained that the bank failed to issue him the required notification of sale.

But Justice David Majanja ruled that since Bishop Yego admitted the indebtedness, he cannot suffer loss that cannot be compensated by damages.

The judge said Bishop Yego based his complaint on the fact that he had entered into a sale agreement with a third party who was willing to buy the property at Sh200 million.

Mr Yego had attached a sale agreement made between him and Peter Kivolonzi who had agreed to purchase the suit property for Sh200 million.

He told the court that the sale derailed in the wake of Covid-19, whose effects has sharply cut sales and reduced appetite for properties.

“According to the correspondence between the parties, the plaintiff has been in default since 2019. He has not met promise to settle the debt despite several offers by the bank to accept settlement,” said Justice Majanja when dismissing the application to restrain the bank from auctioning the property.