KCB Group is seeking Sh7 billion from the disposal of 2,000 acres of land recovered from East Africa Portland Cement Company (EAPCC). The land is currently occupied by squatters, including households, and businesses such as hotels and warehouses.
EAPCC reached a deal with the bank in 2019 to settle the cement manufacturer’s Sh6.8 billion outstanding loan but the parcel in Mavoko, Athi River, had already been invaded by settlers long before the pact.
The bank has transferred properties worth Sh6.99 billion from its investments book to assets available for sale, signaling KCB’s intent to liquidate the Mavoko land to cash marking a key step in the lender’s loan recovery strategy.
The move sets the bank up for a face-off with squatters in its quest to possess and dispose of the land including potential court battles.
KCB previously indicated that it sought to regularise land ownership for squatters who already occupy part of the land and has recently offered loans to the settlers to enable them to formally acquire the parcels.
‘During the year, a portion of investment property held at a fair value cost of Sh6.996 billion has been reclassified to other assets. The property is undergoing sale and disposal arrangements with potential buyers,’ KCB said in its 2025 annual report.
‘The group expects the disposal process to be completed within the normal operating cycle.’
The sale of the land is expected to be undertaken through land regularisation which is described as the handing of formal and permanent ownership to an occupier.
The bank previously noted that the exercise shall cover existing, willing and capable occupants.
KCB and EAPCC entered a settlement deed in 2019 which consolidated several loan facilities into a one-term loan.
Portland Cement shareholders later transferred an estimated 2,000 acres to the bank to retire a Sh6.8 billion debt.
Squatters began invading the parcel, then owned by EAPCC, in 2010 when the company signaled it would sell the land after exhausting limestone deposits.
The settlers have since organised themselves in groups including the Syokimau-Mavoko Community Association, Ngwatanio ya Mkamba Self Help Group and Kathama Welfare Association.
KCB Group chief executive officer Paul Russo clarified that the Mavoko land is now under the custody of the bank and not the cement manufacturer amid questions on the parcel’s ownership.
‘There is no East African Portland Cement land, the land belongs to KCB. EAPC had our loan that they were unable to pay. They gave us the land in exchange for our loan with approval from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK),’ he said on March 11.
The agreement between KCB and CBK requires the lender to dispose of the land as the bank is not a land selling company.
KCB says it has opted to support the regularisation of the land’s ownership over evictions and that it is willing to offer loans to the squatters to complete the process.
‘We had a right to sell-off the land and let somebody break it down and deal with them (squatters), but we also have a duty as KCB to engage those present to say, ‘here is the valuation of our land, this is how we price it and we are willing to regularise it for you,’ said Mr Russo.
He added: ‘If you have a source of income, we are even willing to give you a loan to buy the land. We have cleared the land rates pending at the Machakos County government and now want to regularise. That’s it. At the end of the day, we must remove the entry of land from our books and put it in cash.’
The sales will help improve KCB Group loan recoveries, cutting its stock of non-performing loans to improve the lender’s asset quality.
It’s gross non-performing loans fell to Sh211.8 billion in 2025 from Sh225.6 billion the previous year as the firm intensified its recovery efforts including appointing a technical committee to push for settlements through initiatives like property auctions.
‘We can boldly say that we have ringfenced historical non-performing loans,’ said Paul Russo.