From left: Former police chief Bernard Hinga, Mbiyu Koinange, Gerishon Kirima and former spy chief James Kanyotu. PHOTOS | FILE
The second families of deceased Kenyatta-era oligarchs have sparked gigantic legal battles over their multi-billion shilling estates, lifting the lid on the private lives of some of Kenya’s most powerful personalities.Even in cases where wills were written, the second wives or hitherto unknown fiancées have emerged as a thorn in the flesh of successors, laying claim to portions of the wealth left behind by the businessmen and politicians.
The list of Kenyatta’s men whose second families
have returned to haunt their empires includes Mbiyu Koinange, Fred
Kubai, former spy chief James Kanyotu, former police chief Bernard
Hinga, popular politician Josiah Mwangi (JM) Kariuki, the president’s
cook John Kathumba and Gerishon Kirima.
Koinange
Mr Koinange headed the powerful ministry of State
in the Office of the President (1966-1979) while Kubai served time with
Mzee Kenyatta at Kapenguria prison.
The court battles, complete with soap opera-like
scripts involving big money, backstabbing and media coverage, have been
playing out in the public domain in the recent past.
The cast in the Koinange drama includes four women
who have been battling for control of his estate estimated to be worth
Sh17.1 billion. Mr Koinange died in September 1981, leaving behind
massive tracts of land in Nairobi, Mombasa, Mau Narok, Nakuru and
Kiambu.
The politician also had shares in several companies, including Centum, Ocean View Hotel Mombasa, Limuru Dairy, BAT Kenya and Kenya Co-operative Creameries Ltd among others.
High Court judge William Musyoka in September ruled
that two of the women claiming to be Koinange’s widows - Margaret Njeri
and Eddah Wanjiru – were imposters.
In settling the 35-year-old inheritance suit,
Justice Musyoka ordered the two women to return all the wealth they had
appropriated. The court then divided the vast estate between Koinange’s
two wives - Loise Mbiyu and Ruth Mbiyu – and their 10 children.
Nine out of every 10 Kenyans do not have a will,
according to a dipstick survey conducted by Bleep Africa, a
Nairobi-based marketing and research firm, risking an outbreak of family
feuds upon death.
Cultural taboos associated with death and the
burden of existential financial challenges have been identified as the
twin reasons Kenyans do not write wills.
Peter Wairegi, an estate planning adviser, says
Kenyans need to embrace the benefits of estate planning such as tax
benefits, right to life choices in regard to medical directives, burial
arrangements and ensuring one’s wealth survives.
“Few people plan to die in the near future but if
you die suddenly without a will, you will be subjecting your family to a
confusing and anxious experience over what is already a very difficult
situation,” says Mr Wairegi, who last week published a book titled
‘‘Wealth Preservation; The 7-Key Steps of Effective Will and Estate
Planning Strategy.’’
Mr Wairegi argues that the high-profile cases
should serve as a wake-up call on the need for wills, estate planning
and wealth preservation.
Freedom fighter Kubai’s demise in June 1996 opened a protracted legal battle pitting his four families.
The children from Mr Kubai’s first three marriages
teamed up against his fourth wife - Christina Gakuha - claiming she was
merely a house help and that she had forged a will.
Mr Kubai was among the famous Kapenguria Six who
were arrested by the colonial government in 1952 alongside Jomo
Kenyatta, Bildad Kaggia, Kung’u Karumba, Paul Ngei, and Achieng’ Oneko.
But Ms Gakuha put up a spirited fight to
demonstrate that she was legally married to the independence hero,
causing High Court judge Luka Kimaru to settle the two-decade-old
dispute in her favour.
The judge ruled that Ms Gakuha was the sole administrator of Kubai’s estate as per the handwritten will filed in court.
Kanyotu
For Mr Kanyotu – a shadowy figure who served as
founding President Kenyatta’s spy chief – his death in February 2008
lifted the lid on his family life and wealth.
The scramble for Mr Kanyotu’s wealth followed a
familiar script: four women engaged in a vicious battle for control of
the spy master’s estate estimated at Sh20 billion.
The foursome battle pitted Mary Wanjiku, Mr
Kanyotu’s publicly known wife, against three others Jane Gathoni,
Margaret Nyakinya and Mercy Mumbi Mathenge – all of who claimed to have
been married to the secretive man and even had children with him.
The High Court ruled that Mary, Jane and Margaret
be made administrators of the Kanyotu estate after DNA tests confirmed
the paternity of their children.
Ms Mathenge, the fourth wife, also claimed to have had a child who is still a minor with the former spy master.
Hinga
The family of Mr Hinga - who served as Kenya’s
first African police commissioner and died in 2006 – is also caught up
in a succession battle.
The battle pitting children against their
step-mother is for control of Mr Hinga’s Sh4 billion estate made up of
prime real estate in Nairobi and Mombasa and large farms in Nakuru and
Kiambu.
The ghosts of succession squabbles are also haunting the family
of flamboyant politician JM Kariuki who was assassinated in March 1975.
Mr Kariuki died without a valid will, leaving his three widows — Doris
Nyambura, Esther Mwikali and Terry Wanjiku — and their eight children in
a knock-down-drag-out fight for the control of his wealth.
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Doris, the first wife, argued that Terry and Esther should not be considered as co-widows, a claim the High Court rejected.
In yet another case, the two wives of Mr Kathumba –
who served as Mr Kenyatta’s cook while the man who would be Kenya’s
founding president did time in Kapenguria – are also feuding over his
estate.
The prison cook died in 1990 and was survived by two wives — Esther Nzula and Beatrice Syokau – and 10 children.
The two and their children are on each other’s
necks over Mr Kathumba’s 50-acre prime land in Embakasi, next to the
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi estimated to be worth
Sh3.5 billion.
Kirima
The Kirima succession case involved three wives.
The property magnate, who began building his real estate empire during
the Kenyatta era, died in 2010 in a South African hospital after having
spent a week in a coma.
Mr Kirima’s first two families teamed up against
his third and youngest wife, Teresiah Wairimu, in a bid to lock her out
of the wealth he left behind.
The children from his first wife, Agnes Waruguru
(deceased) locked horns with the second wife Grace Warwathia and the
third wife Wairimu; each wanting a say in the man’s Sh750 million real
estate empire.
They disputed several wills purported to be authored by Mr Kirima, which were finally annulled by the courts.
Justice Isaac Lenaola ended the three-year
succession battle in 2013 by distributing Mr Kirima’s wealth to his
family, including seven children from the first marriage, as well as his
two wives and their children.
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