A Nairobi court has issued arrest warrants for Kenyan industrialist Benson Sande Ndeta and his co-accused, Charles Hills Jr, after the two failed to appear in court to face fraud charges linked to a Sh4.5 billion ($35 million) loan obtained from Absa Bank Kenya.
The arrest order was issued by a magistrate at Milimani Law Courts on March 5, following confirmation by prosecutors that the High Court had dismissed a constitutional petition filed by Ndeta seeking to halt the criminal proceedings.
With the legal challenge dismissed, the court directed law enforcement authorities to arrest the suspects and present them before the court by March 18, 2026.
What they are saying
An excerpt of the statement by the court reads,
- “A warrant of arrest is hereby issued against the accused, who failed to appear in court to plead to the charges,” the magistrate ruled during the hearing.
According to prosecutors, Ndeta and Hills are accused of conspiring to fraudulently obtain a Sh4.5 billion credit facility from Absa Bank between February 2017 and January 2018.
Investigators allege the two men misrepresented themselves as acting on behalf of Savannah Cement Limited while securing the loan.
The charge sheet filed by the prosecution lists 12 criminal counts, including conspiracy to commit fraud and obtaining credit by false pretence.
Hills faces the bulk of the charges, with prosecutors alleging that he induced the bank to accept six corporate guarantee security documents, as well as forged extracts of board meeting minutes from Savannah Heights Limited. Authorities claim these documents were used to convince the bank that the loan had proper corporate backing.
Ndeta, on the other hand, faces several counts relating to allegedly creating and presenting unauthorised corporate documents. These reportedly include a guarantee and indemnity form, a subordination agreement, and extracts of company board minutes, which prosecutors say were submitted to the bank as legitimate approvals.
Backstory
Ndeta first appeared in court after the case was filed in November 2024, but the proceedings were temporarily halted after he obtained orders from the High Court suspending the case pending the outcome of his constitutional petition.
However, in December 2025, the High Court dismissed the petition, allowing the prosecution to proceed.
In its ruling, the court said it was not convinced that the petitioner had shown any abuse of prosecutorial powers or bad faith on the part of Kenya’s Director of Public Prosecutions.
What you should know about the case
In 2012, Ndeta co-founded Savannah Cement, initially a promising enterprise with a 40% stake held by Savannah Heights and 60% by Chinese investors.
Benson Sande Ndeta is an architect, businessman, and magnate in Kenya’s cement industry. His career has been characterised by a mix of achievements and controversies.
- He is a registered architect with the Board of Registration of Architects and Quantity Surveyors (BORAQS) and a member of the Institute of Data Processing Management in London.
- The criminal case is rooted in a long-running shareholder dispute dating back to 2016, when Ndeta acquired additional shares in Savannah Cement through a corporate vehicle known as Seruji Limited.
- That transaction triggered a series of legal battles involving Savannah Heights Limited and other stakeholders, eventually prompting investigations into whether some of the corporate documents used to secure the loan facility were authentic.
- Following his departure from Savannah Cement, Ndeta went on to establish Savannah Clinker, which in 2023 launched a Sh27.7 billion bid to acquire Bamburi Cement.
The takeover bid later collapsed after the fraud investigations surfaced, with Savannah Clinker withdrawing from the acquisition process.
The cement manufacturer was eventually acquired by Amsons Group in December 2024 for Sh23.9 billion.
