Citizen tv owner SK Macharia fights for his empire after bankruptcy ruling

Royal Media Services Chairman and owner SK Macharia has been forced to fight extra hard to save himself from being declared bankrupt and protect his multi-billion shilling media empire. 

The State Law Office already published his bankruptcy notice in the Kenya Gazette on October 2, 2020 setting the stage for most probably the biggest fight of Macharia’s later life. 

Livingstone Waithaka, Managing Director - Oceanfreight Transport - reportedly paid him half a million shillings in December 1986 for a piece of land but the land was never transferred to him. 

Waithaka took Macharia to court and won the case and the RMS chairman was ordered to pay debt which had shot up to Sh293 million owing to a compound interest rate of 19 per cent. 

After losing his appeal this year, the media mogul is reported to be planning to challenge his bankruptcy ruling at the Supreme Court. 

The court is yet to appoint a receiver manager to run Macharia’s businesses until Waithaka’s debt is fully retrieved after the Citizen tv boss paid the money into the court suspense account. 

He risks losing access to his businesses, bank accounts and property once the state comes in and takes over and supervises his mega businesses to ensure they reclaim all the debts. 

The bankruptcy receiving order was triggered by last year’s appellate court ruling rejecting Macharia and his wife’s challenge to being declared bankrupt over the ballooning debt. 

The High Court in 2001 ordered Macharia to pay Waithaka his cash after the botched deal but Macharia ignored the ruling up to 2008 when Waithaka served him with a bankruptcy notice. 

Appeal court judges ruled that Macharia and his wife Gathoni challenged the court ruling related to the validity and existence of the said debt as opposed to the bankruptcy case.