This archive report was first published on 3 September 2021.
Thika-based businessman, Mr Gitau, rose from humble beginnings as a hawker to become a multimillionaire before the COVID-19 pandemic devastated his general merchandise wholesale business, leaving him with creditors.
His disappearance in 2021 sparked a police investigation, with detectives suspecting foul play. However, Mr Gitau claimed to have been kidnapped and held hostage in a house in the bush by armed men who forced him to work.
Upon his return, he found his business had collapsed, with auction notices pinned on most of his properties. Now, his land in Thika, measuring 0.228 acres, which includes a two-bedroom bungalow and rental units, is set to be auctioned to recover a Sh18 million debt.
Also attached for auction is 0.0482 acres at Majengo in Thika, where the five-storey Kaharati Apartments are located. The property has 42 bedsitters and a shop on the ground floor.
Another property, measuring 0.1927 acres, in the Happy Valley residential area, has remnants of a demolished maisonette. The three properties are valued at Sh80 million, but the auctioneers want to dispose of them to recover the Sh18 million debt.
Mr Gitau currently runs a kiosk at the Thika town main stage after his two wholesale shops were auctioned. When asked about the auction, he explained, 'These are the levels that the COVID-19 has handed investors to a point many have become mentally sick, others lost their lives to depression and the rest, like me, are facing all manner of unnecessary conflict with creditors.'
Mr Gitau referred The Nation to the Kiambu County Business Community, which is fighting for the rights of many traders in the town who are facing similar challenges. The community's chairman, Mr Alfred Wanyoike, said, 'We are treating Mr Gitau's woes as our collective crisis that needs our combined input.'
Mr Wanyoike suggested that the notice of intent to auction more of Mr Gitau's properties by September 8 to recover the Sh18 million he owes is malicious since it has devalued the properties by more than 500 percent.
