A KSh25 million apartment purchase has become entangled in a KSh143 million debt.
Now, two Kileleshwa apartments sit frozen at the centre of that dispute.
The Environment and Land Court has stopped KCB Bank from auctioning them.
The properties are Apartments C2 and B4 on LR No. 4858/11.
They are part of the Ringsview Apartments development in Kileleshwa.
Joseph Vincent Oyile Magoha and Edwina Adhiambo Owuor-Magoha claim they bought them.
Their purchase dates back to June 2012, which marks the beginning of the dispute.
They say they paid the agreed price in full by February 2013, but Ringsview Apartments Limited never transferred the properties into their names.
Years later, the developer used the same apartments as loan security.
That decision eventually brought the purchasers and KCB Bank into direct conflict.
The latest ruling has now put the threatened auction on hold.
The Environment and Land Court judge, Justice Charles Gitonga Mbogo, has ruled that the apartments must be preserved for the time being.
The Purchase
The Magoha couple entered their sale agreement with Ringsview on June 15, 2012.
The original transaction covered Apartments B1 and C2 for KSh25 million.
B1 was subsequently substituted with Apartment B4, according to their case.
The purchasers say they completed payment by February 22, 2013.
But the promised transfers never happened, leaving the properties registered to Ringsview.
The dispute eventually moved into arbitration after earlier court proceedings.
An earlier 2018 ruling had already touched on the same apartments.
That case recorded Magoha’s claim that he purchased the properties during 2012.
The court also noted that the property had financing complications.
The latest proceedings, however, were triggered by an entirely different threat.
The threat was KCB’s attempt to sell the apartments to recover debt.
The Loan
Ringsview obtained a KSh90 million mortgage facility from KCB in 2018.
The facility was intended partly to settle construction loans owed to I&M Bank.
KCB subsequently registered a legal charge over several apartments.
The charge covering the disputed properties was registered in November 2018.
Ringsview later defaulted on its repayment obligations to the bank.
By October 16, 2025, KCB said the debt had reached KSh143,478,054.50.
The outstanding amount continued attracting interest under the lending agreement.
KCB then began exercising its statutory power of sale against Ringsview’s properties.
Garam Investments Auctioneers issued the notification of sale on the bank’s instructions.
The auction was advertised in the Daily Nation on January 12, 2026.
Apartment C2 was scheduled for auction on January 27, 2026.
For the Magoha couple, the planned sale threatened to end their long battle.
They argued that they had purchased the apartments years before KCB’s charge.
They also pointed to an arbitral award that had already recognised their claim.
The Showdown
An arbitral award dated October 9, 2023, directed Ringsview to transfer ownership.
The award required immediate registration of the disputed apartments for the purchasers.
A court subsequently adopted that award as an order on January 31, 2024.
Yet the properties remained untransferred when KCB moved towards auction.
The purchasers therefore asked the court to preserve the apartments.
KCB opposed the application, insisting that its registered charge remained enforceable.
The bank said it was not party to the original purchase agreement.
It also argued that the purchasers lacked contractual privity with KCB.
KCB further maintained that damages could adequately compensate the purchasers if necessary.
Justice Mbogo, however, found that the purchasers had established a prima facie case.
Their evidence included the 2012 sale agreement and the arbitral award.
The award had already been adopted as a binding court order.
The judge stressed that the injunction stage was not a full trial.
The court only needed to determine whether their claimed rights required protection.
It concluded that they had crossed that threshold.
The judge then considered whether the threatened loss could be repaired financially.
KCB argued that the apartments had a measurable monetary value.
But the court reached a different conclusion about losing ownership.
“Loss of ownership of property certainly constitutes irreparable injury,” Justice Mbogo ruled.
That finding became central to the decision to preserve the apartments.
The court acknowledged that KCB might have a valid statutory power of sale.
However, it considered preservation preferable while the ownership dispute remained unresolved.
The balance of convenience therefore favoured keeping the apartments intact.
The Freeze
Ringsview itself did not strongly oppose temporarily stopping the proposed auction.
The company said several related disputes remained before different courts.
It argued that maintaining the status quo would serve the interests of justice.
Dr Mbira Gikonyo separately challenged his personal involvement in the case.
He argued that Ringsview was legally separate from its directors and shareholders.
He also rejected any suggestion that the corporate veil should be lifted.
Ringsview further challenged aspects of the arbitral award involving B4.
It also disputed rental income awarded to the purchasers from 2014 onwards.
The company claimed those orders created approximately KSh4 million in unjust enrichment.
Those arguments were not finally resolved by Justice Mbogo’s ruling.
Instead, the court focused narrowly on preserving the disputed properties.
The judge consequently issued a temporary injunction against dealings in C2 and B4.
The defendants cannot advertise, sell, transfer, charge or dispose of them.
The court also ordered an inhibition to be registered against both apartments.
That restriction will remain pending the hearing and determination of the suit.
The ruling does not cancel Ringsview’s KSh143.48 million debt to KCB.
Neither does it finally determine whether KCB’s charge will ultimately survive.
Instead, Justice Mbogo has pressed pause on a remarkably tangled property battle.
For KCB, recovery of a rapidly growing debt is temporarily delayed.
As for the Magohas, apartments bought 14 years ago remain protected from auction.
For Ringsview, another chapter has been added to its long-running legal saga.
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