Bonface Kanyamwaya, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, has more than 10 years of financial, economic, business, markets, and aviation expertise, providing insights into Kenya and global trends.

The Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Co-operatives now wants to dispose of more than 50 properties of its members who embezzled funds at the union to recover KSh 13 billion, which was lost.

The auction by Watts auctioneers will happen on Thursday, June 5, Saturday, June 7, and Tuesday, June 10.

"All interested purchasers are requested to review the properties by prior arrangement," said the auctioneer in a public notice on Monday, May 19.

According to the auction notice, the sale of the properties will be subject to a reasonable reserve price.

Before a bidder will be allowed to buy the goods, they will be expected to provide cash or a bankers’ cheque at the fall of the hammer.

The auction notice said that some of the properties listed for sale by the members Sacco include two blocks of shops in Meru, a bungalow in Thika, and a bungalow in Ngong. Others are vacant plots in Kajiado, a dwelling block comprising three blocks in Mavoko, and a residential house in Ruiru that is still under construction.

Other properties listed for sale are a multi-storey apartment building in Kisumu, a motor vehicle workshop in Kisii County, a business and a residential house in Mombasa County, and two apartments in Mombasa County.

The plots of land up for sale are small parcels ranging from 0.05 acres to 0.9 acres.

A large number of these parcels are situated in Kajiado County.

It was not immediately clear why KUSCCO had also requested bidders to come with cash as payment option during the sale day bearing in mind the large volume of transactions at hand.

The sale of members’ properties comes barely a few months after a forensic audit revealed KUSCCO had lost KSh 13 billion due to illegal withdrawals and widespread mismanagement.

The loss of funds led to several arrests of suspects who were at the centre of the massive loss.

The four arrested include former managing director George Ototo, who is accused of being at the centre of the loss.

The arrests came after Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja assured the public that no stone would be left unturned in trying to recover the money lost, as he received the KUSCCO forensic report from the Cabinet Secretary for Co-operatives and SMEs, Wycliffe Oparanya.

The 208-page PwC audit retrieved dozens of incriminating pieces of information from M-Pesa statements, computer logs, emails, and documents of more than 20 managers of the SACCO, in an analysis that put four senior executives on the spot.

Source: TUKO.co.ke