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Kenyan businesswoman Mary Wambui Mungai has gone to court to block the planned auction of a luxury Nairobi hotel, escalating a dispute with Equity Bank over what she says is a contested debt that has climbed above 8 billion shillings ($62.0 million).
Court filings described in local reporting show Wambui’s company, Purma Holdings, asking the High Court to stop the sale while it challenges interest calculations and penalties that pushed the lender’s demand higher. One account put the claim at about Sh8.4 billion ($65.1 million) and said the property was valued at roughly Sh1.2 billion ($9.3 million) during development.
The fight has revived attention on Wambui, a figure long associated with big government supply contracts and high level political networks. She built much of her profile through Purma Holdings, a firm that has been linked in investigative reporting and court records to state tenders involving supplies such as uniforms, boots and food items to public agencies, including the security sector.
Her ties to politics have been central to her public identity. Kenyan business media has previously described her as a financier associated with former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party, including support around the 2017 election period. She later served as chair of the board of the Communications Authority of Kenya, a prominent state role that kept her close to the regulatory and political establishment.
Wambui has also faced legal trouble that once threatened to dent her influence. In 2021, the Kenya Revenue Authority said she and her daughter, Purity Njoki Mungai, were sought in a Sh2.2 billion ($17.1 million) tax case involving allegations of omitted taxes tied to Purma Holdings. She was also charged in early 2022 with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, allegations she denied.
Both matters later collapsed in court. Prosecutors were allowed to withdraw the tax case after an out of court settlement was cited, and the firearms case was also discontinued, according to Kenyan media coverage at the time. The withdrawals became part of a wider public debate about how quickly high profile cases can fade once politics shifts.
The hotel dispute lands in a tougher moment for Nairobi developers and hospitality operators, with high interest rates and uneven occupancy squeezing cash flows. Equity Bank, one of Kenya’s biggest lenders, has been among the banks pressing borrowers to restructure or pay down loans as defaults rise across parts of the economy.
Wambui’s legal push seeks to buy time and force a fresh accounting of how the claim grew so large before an auctioneer can put the hotel on the block.
