Late Njenga Karume family soon to be declared bankrupt over 3 Billion debt

Jacaranda hotel in Nairobi. PHOTO | NATION

The family of former late business mogul Njenga Karume is trouble over unsettled debt from banks, brokers, KRA, estate constructors and other partners who happened to owe some cash.

The troubled empire of late politician and business tycoon Njenga Karume is facing a litmus test with the planned auction of the prime Jacaranda Hotel in Nairobi to clear a bank loan.

The hotel, which is among the few surviving businesses that the late politician left behind, has been earmarked for sale to recover an Sh257.6 million loan owed to Guaranty Trust Bank.

The auction notice comes after the Kenya Revenue Authority last year lined up auctioneers to recover value-added tax (VAT) and Pay as You Earn (PAYE) arrears amounting to Sh153 million owed by the hotel.

7.9 million owed by KRA on his real estate business.  The family has debt total 3billion. The family agreed to auction relevant properties to settle the debt.

A mediation council chaired by former ambassador Stephen Karau had a hard time trying to quell an imminent family split over the sale of properties meant to settle some Sh2.5 billion debts owed by the estate.

The family is yet to establish what to be done to save their situation. The family moved from their happiest glory and now dust in waiting as one of his sons said in an interview.