The owners of Nairobi’s 14 Riverside complex, which houses the DusitD2 hotel, face renewed pressure over a multibillion-shilling debt after the High Court rejected their attempt to challenge a law governing interest on unpaid court debts.
In a ruling delivered on Thursday, October 22, 2026, the court dismissed a petition by Cape Holdings and its directors challenging Section 44A (4) of the Banking Act. The provision excludes court ordered debts from the protection of the in duplum rule, which generally limits recoverable interest on non-performing loans to the outstanding principal.
The decision leaves Cape Holdings facing the possibility of losing the property through an auction to recover the Sh10.6 billion debt claimed by Synergy Industrial Credit Limited.
The amount has risen sharply from an original arbitration award of about Sh570 million, with compound interest accounting for a substantial share of the current claim.
The court upheld Synergy’s objection that Cape Holdings had brought back issues that previous court proceedings had already settled. It ruled that the company could not use a fresh constitutional petition to reopen the long-running dispute.
The judge said the petition amounted to another attempt to avoid settling an arbitration award that had already become a court decree.
Cape Holdings had argued that enforcing the debt against the entire 14 Riverside development would violate its constitutional right to property. The company maintained that the amount claimed had grown beyond the property’s estimated market value of Sh7.3 billion as of October 2025.
It also told the court that approximately Sh9.013 billion of the debt comprised compound interest, representing about 84 percent of the total amount claimed.
The dispute arose from a failed transaction involving a block within the 14 Riverside development. Synergy had sought to acquire office space under a 2011 agreement, but the deal collapsed, leading to arbitration and years of court battles over the resulting award.
Earlier in October, the court invalidated notices and documents connected to a proposed auction scheduled for May 26, 2026, after finding procedural defects. However, it allowed Synergy to issue fresh notices and execution documents that comply with the law.
The latest ruling does not prevent the creditor from pursuing lawful debt recovery measures. Cape Holdings has indicated that it intends to appeal against the decision.
The dispute now places the future of the prominent Westlands property at risk as the two sides continue their battle over the debt, accumulated interest and enforcement proceedings.