The High Court has cleared Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) Kenya to auction Tuskys Supermarket’s Athi River branch to recover a loan that has ballooned to more than Ksh 320 million.

Justice Ngaah Jairus, delivering the ruling in Mombasa on October 24, 2025, dismissed an attempt by Tuskys’ guarantors, Peter Thuo and Nelly Ngonyo Kamau, to stop DTB and its agents, Garam Investments Auctioneers, from selling the property.

The court found that the plaintiffs had not established valid grounds to block the bank’s recovery efforts.

Thuo and Kamau had asked the court to allow them to settle the loan by paying KES 5,000 per month, arguing that they were facing severe financial hardship.

They also sought an extension of time to file a notice of appeal, claiming they were unaware of an earlier ruling that triggered the bank’s enforcement action.

“I was not aware of the ruling against which we intend to appeal because the plaintiffs were never notified when it was delivered,” Thuo said in his affidavit, adding that he only learned of the decision when served with a notice to show cause in September 2024.

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DTB, through its representatives and interested parties, opposed the plea, describing it as an attempt to delay justice.

The bank argued that the borrowers were “people of means” and that the court should not permit further obstruction of lawful recovery proceedings.

Citing section 7 of the Appellate Jurisdiction Act,the judge allowed the request for more time to file the notice of appeal, granting them fourteen days from the date of the ruling to do so.

However,the court declined to grant a stay of execution, stating that it lacked jurisdiction in the absence of a properly filed appeal.

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“Without the appeal,an application for stay of execution of a judgment from the Magistrate’s Court is premature,” ruled Justice Ngaah.

“The appeal is yet to be preferred and without it this Honourable Court has no jurisdiction to entertain the application for stay.”

This effectively gave Diamond Trust Bank and Garam Investments the green light to proceed with the auction process.

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DTB in Upper hill
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