‘They Will Eat You Alive’: Retired Teacher Warns Against Bashy African Credit as Sh500,000 Loan Spirals Into Sh1.5 Million Fight

A retired teacher in Nairobi is fighting to save her home after a Sh500,000 loan she took to fund her children’s travel abroad ballooned into a Sh1.5 million debt, triggering an eviction threat and exposing what she describes as a predatory lending trap.

Lydia Wangare Mwangi, 64, says she is now at risk of losing her Kahawa Wendani property valued at more than Sh10 million after defaulting on the loan from Bashy African Credit Limited.

The property includes her family home and ten rental units built over four decades from her teaching salary.

“I wanted my children to go abroad and come back with something,” Mwangi told the media at her compound near the SDA church. “Now I am the one being chased away. At my age, where do I begin?”

Her warning is stark.

“They will eat you alive.”

Mwangi’s ordeal began about three years ago when she sought financial help to send her two children to the Middle East for work opportunities. She was referred by a friend to an agent identified as Brenda Achieng Onyango, who operated from an office in Adams Arcade in Nairobi.

According to Mwangi, the agent declined a deferred payment arrangement and instead directed her to Bashy African Credit Limited for a secured loan.

The money was disbursed. The travel plans collapsed. The agent disappeared.

Mwangi says repeated attempts to trace the agent were unsuccessful after the office was shut down and the phone numbers went off.

What remained was the loan.

Last week, representatives of the lender reportedly issued a two-week ultimatum demanding settlement of an outstanding balance now said to exceed Sh1.5 million. Failure to pay could see the lender take possession of the property.

Mwangi had used her title deed as collateral.

“I built this place room by room from my salary,” she said. “How does a loan meant to help my children become something that destroys everything?”

She is now considering selling the entire property to clear the debt and relocate to a smaller home.

“If someone can buy and settle the loan, let them come. I just want peace,” she said.

Efforts to seek intervention have yielded little. Mwangi says she reached out to a local church leader for assistance but received no tangible support.

Bashy African Credit Limited, which operates in Nairobi and offers title deed-backed loans, advertises fast processing and competitive interest rates. However, borrower complaints and court records point to a pattern of aggressive recovery practices and disputed transactions.

In one High Court matter involving the company, a lower court found that a vehicle repossession and sale linked to a loan dispute were marred by fraud and misrepresentation, declaring the transaction null and void. In another case, the High Court criticised a ruling that released a disputed vehicle to the lender, warning it undermined ongoing criminal proceedings.

The lender had not responded to queries from The Star by the time of publication.

Mwangi’s case reflects a wider crisis in Kenya’s lending sector, where complaints against digital and microfinance lenders have surged.

Data from the Competition Authority of Kenya shows the financial sector accounts for a significant share of consumer complaints, with borrowers citing high interest rates, non-disclosure of terms, and harsh recovery tactics.

Regulators have acknowledged growing concerns, including hidden charges and unilateral changes to loan terms, and say investigations are ongoing.

Legal experts warn that many borrowers fall into trouble through loosely structured agreements involving title deeds.

Under Kenyan law, an “informal charge” must meet strict requirements, including a clear written agreement indicating intent to create a security interest. However, in practice, borrowers often sign documents without fully understanding the implications.

This creates a legal grey area that lenders can exploit when enforcing recovery.

Mwangi now finds herself trapped in that system, racing against time to avoid losing everything she owns.

Her children, whose planned migration triggered the loan, have been unable to reverse the situation.

As the deadline approaches, she says her story should serve as a warning.

“It is better to live in a small house that is yours,” she said. “Do not risk everything for a loan you do not fully understand.”

The agent at the centre of the transaction remains untraceable. The lender is yet to publicly respond. And Mwangi continues to wait, hoping to salvage what remains of a lifetime’s work.