NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 22 – Cape Holdings will appeal a High Court ruling in its dispute with Synergy Industrial Credit over a debt that has grown from Sh570 million to more than Sh10.6 billion and is linked to the 14 Riverside Drive complex.

Justice Patricia Mande Nyaundi ruled that the issues raised in Cape Holdings’ constitutional petition had already been dealt with by other courts.

The company argues that its case raises questions that have not been decided before, including whether interest should have continued to accrue when an arbitral award against it was set aside in March 2016.

The award was reinstated in November 2020 after an appeal. Cape Holdings says interest should not have accumulated during the four years and eight months when the award was not in force.

The company is also challenging the rules that exclude court judgment debts from the in duplum rule, which limits how much interest can accrue on certain loans. It argues that the exclusion is unconstitutional.

Cape Holdings further says the debt should not be enforced against the entire 14 Riverside Drive complex because its value is estimated at Sh7.3 billion, based on figures from October 2025. It says the original transaction involved only one block of the development.

The debt dispute is separate from a ruling delivered on October 8, 2026, when the High Court’s Commercial Division set aside warrants and auction notices linked to the attempted sale of the complex in May. The court found the auction process conducted by Synergy Credit and Moran Auctioneers was defective.

Cape Holdings says the latest ruling does not affect that decision.

The company said it would appeal because it wants the court to hear its constitutional arguments. It added that it was not seeking to avoid its debt obligations but wanted the issues raised in its petition to be determined.