Encasa homes by Suraya along Mombasa Road behind Mlolongo in March 2015.
High-profile real estate disputes are seen as reflecting the difficulty
property developers are facing. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Summary
- Chinese firm sues two companies associated with property moguls the Murayas over failure to pay debt
- Sucasa and Encasa West Limited, the two companies at the centre of the liquidation suit, are owned by the Murayas
- Eternal Foundation Construction claims that Sucasa is unable to pay the Sh53 million that was due to it at the beginning of October 2017.
Nairobi’s real estate moguls Peter and Susan Muraya have been
dragged into a legal battle after a contractor filed a high-profile
petition in court seeking to wind up two real estate companies
associated with the couple over non-payment of debt.
Eternal
Foundation Construction wants the Murayas’ two companies, one of which
holds a vast real estate property valued at more than Sh1 billion,
liquidated.
Sucasa and Encasa West Limited, the two
companies at the centre of the liquidation suit, are owned by the
Murayas, whose vast real estate empire is valued at billions of
shillings.
This is the latest in a series of
high-profile real estate disputes to go to court in what is being seen
as reflecting the difficulty property developers are facing on the sales
front.
Robust growth
Kenya’s
economy has grown robustly at an average of five per cent per annum in
the past four years but that growth has been overshadowed by a steady
fall in corporate profits, a stagnation in workers’ incomes and a series
of employee retrenchments that have slowed down the sale of new housing
units.
Nairobi auctioneers last month put on sale a Sh1.19 billion residential estate in upmarket Kitisuru estate citing the developers’ failure to settle a bank loan.
Nairobi auctioneers last month put on sale a Sh1.19 billion residential estate in upmarket Kitisuru estate citing the developers’ failure to settle a bank loan.
Eternal
Foundation Construction, the petitioners in the latest case, wants
Sucasa and Encasa West, which are associated with the Suraya Property
Group, liquidated over a Sh53 million debt and an undisclosed amount in
debt respectively.
Through Ochieng, Onyango, Kibet and
Ohaga Advocates, Eternal Foundation Construction claims that Sucasa is
unable to pay the Sh53 million that was due to it at the beginning of
October 2017.
“As at October 2, 2017 the company was
justly and truly indebted to the petitioner (and remains indebted) in
the aggregate sum of Sh53,044,729 being the amount due to the petitioner
pursuant to the practical completion certificate issued on August 22,
2016 as well as the final account rendered on August 31, 2016 upon the
petitioner partially completing construction of 1087 units on plot L.R
NO 202882 Mlolongo-Mavoko,” Eternal Foundation Construction says in
court documents.
Top on the list of prayers Eternal has filed in court is the request for orders to liquidate Sucasa.
The
contractor wants the court to appoint a receiver or liquidator for the
company as part of the effort to recover the debt – having served the
firm with a winding-up notice on October 9, 2017.
Three weeks notice
Eternal Foundation Construction in the notice gave Sucasa three weeks to settle the debt or face a winding-up petition.
Sucasa
is yet to respond to the February 27 petition and Eternal Foundation
Construction has not provided the details of the work done. The case is
set for mention on May 25, 2018.
Peter Muraya, the chief executive of Suraya Property Group, did not respond to queries on the matter.
Suraya Property Group describes Encasa as “the starter home for first-time home buyers.”
“Encasa
brings a complete lifestyle development in Mombasa Road area. The
development is located off Mombasa Road, behind Mlolongo. It occupies a
total of 12.5 acres and will have a total of 625 apartments,” it says.
“The apartments are located in 14 courtyards with each having two or three blocks of apartments. Each block has five storeys.”
The
project houses are priced at between Sh1.15 million for a bedsitter and
Sh3.6 million for a two-bed room en-suite, valuing the entire 625 units
at about Sh1.5 billion.
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