The collapsed Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Co-operatives (KUSCCO) has listed 42 properties for public auction next month, in a major asset sale since the Sacco umbrella body was placed under liquidation.

The auction notice, published on Wednesday, October 28, lists vacant plots, residential apartments, maisonettes, bungalows, rental blocks and commercial buildings spread across about a dozen counties, according to Capital FM, Kenyans.co.ke and Sacco Review.

Auction dates and venues

The sales, to be conducted by Watts Auctions, will run in three regional phases:

  • November 11: properties in Nairobi, Central Kenya, Kajiado and the Mount Kenya region, at Watts Auctions' offices on the ninth floor of View Park Towers, Nairobi.
  • November 20: properties in Western, Nyanza, the Rift Valley and Kisii, at a public park near Absa Bank in Kisumu town.
  • November 27: Coast properties, from 11am at Watts Auctions' offices in Canon Towers, Mombasa.

What is on sale

Among the listed assets are an apartment at Kirichwa Gardens in Kileleshwa, Nairobi, vacant plots in Kitengela, Kisaju, Ngong and Olturoto in Kajiado County, a motor vehicle workshop in Kisii, a bungalow in Nakuru and rental buildings in Kisumu and Bungoma. Coastal listings include plots and homes in Bombolulu, Bamburi, Shanzu and Kiembeni.

Several of the properties are unfinished. They include a residential building in Bombolulu reported to be about 30 per cent complete and a commercial block near Katito Trading Centre in Kisumu County at about 40 per cent.

The notice does not disclose reserve prices, the combined value of the assets or how much the liquidator expects to raise. Bidders have been advised to obtain the full notice and confirm conditions and payment terms with the auctioneers before the sales.

How KUSCCO got here

KUSCCO members voted to dissolve the union on August 28 after revival efforts failed. Three days later, the Commissioner for Co-operative Development cancelled its registration and ordered it wound up. Commissioner David Obonyo said the institution "could no longer meet its obligations".

On September 23, Waithaka Ngaruiya of Waithaka and Associates was gazetted as liquidator for a term of up to one year, taking over from a three-member team initially appointed to oversee the process.

A government-ordered forensic audit had earlier found the union insolvent, with liabilities estimated at about Sh17 billion. Financial records filed in a separate liquidation petition put liabilities at about Sh17.7 billion against assets of roughly Sh5.2 billion. That petition, brought by a Sacco claiming an unpaid debt of about Sh108.85 million, was struck out by the High Court on September 28 because KUSCCO is a co-operative society and cannot be wound up under the Insolvency Act.

With liabilities far exceeding assets, the auctions are unlikely to cover the full amounts owed to the Saccos that deposited money with the union, leaving their members exposed to losses.

Photos: Sacco Review; Oakara Services via Kenyans.co.ke. Thumbnail design: HAMASTA MEDIA.