Kibaki’s children declare estate worth Sh50 million amid court dispute

The wealth of the late former President Mwai Kibaki has become the subject of a court battle, with his four children declaring it to be worth Sh50 million, even as two individuals challenge that figure, claiming the estate is far larger.

Judith Wanjiku, one of Kibaki’s children, has filed documents listing seven land parcels in Othaya and Nyeri worth a combined Sh50 million as the main assets of the former Head of State.

She, together with her siblings James Mark Kibaki, David Kagai, and Anthony Andrew Githinji, are seeking to execute a Will left by Kibaki dated December 23, 2016.

The Will does not detail specific properties but names the four as executors and outlines that his cash and assets should be shared equally among them, through a holding company to be formed by the family.

However, one of the objectors, identified in court as JNL, has opposed the issuance of the grant, accusing the four of hiding the true value of Kibaki’s wealth.

She argues that the former President had shares and directorships in various high-value companies, some of which are jointly owned with prominent businessmen such as the late Chris Kirubi, Kenneth Matiba, and Joseph Gethenji.

"I moved to court because I had been left out of the Will and the fact that the petitioners misrepresented the true value/estimate of the estate of my late father", said JNL.

She claims that Kibaki’s estate includes stakes in several companies such as International House Ltd, Kentrout, Farmlands Ltd, Lucia and Company Ltd, Roirie Investment Company Ltd, Pinpoint Investments Ltd, and Gingalili (1968) Ltd.

JNL says that Kibaki owned 20,033 shares in International House Ltd, and that his private company, Roirie Investment, owns an additional 27,000 shares.

She also points out that in Lucia and Company Ltd, he held 69 out of 100 shares, while his children, including Wanjiku and Kagai, are listed as directors.

She further reveals that Kibaki held 499 shares in Pinpoint Investments Ltd out of 500, and had 510 shares in Gingalili (1968) Ltd out of a total of 1,880, but none of these holdings were disclosed in the petition filed by the children.

JNL accuses the children of intermeddling with the estate, even before receiving a formal grant of probate.

"The petitioners have started intermeddling with the movable and immovable assets of Kibaki even before the court issues them with grant of probate. It is therefore in the interest of justice that the petitioners be compelled to render a truthful account and audit of all the assets of the estate pending conclusion of this cause," she says.