Photo/PAUL WAWERU From lefft lawyer Stephen Mwenesi, Rachel Ndei, Catherine Njeri and lawyer Wilfred Nyamu outside the High Court after the hearing of a succession case over the estate of the late Starehe MP Gerishon Kirima in the past.
“Great wealth is a great burden; a great responsibility. It invariably proves to be either of two things – either a great blessing or a great curse.”
John D. Rockefeller, founder, Standard Oil
Testimony was given in court recently that business magnate Gerishon Kirima did not die in a hospital and that his body showed no signs of medical intervention prior to his death.
There could be a variety of reasons for this, one of which could be that he declined to consent to interventions, resigned to the fate that he, like all men must, at some point, meet his maker.
Whatever the medical cause, the reality is that Kirima is dead and that the distribution of his estate, valued at more than Sh750 million at the time he died, now pits his children against one another and their stepmother. As with all high stakes games, the gloves have come off with statements uttered that make future reconciliation near impossible.
In the worst case scenario, this is the last that we will ever hear of Kirima. Each scion will grab a piece of the estate and ride off into the sunset — a sad ending for a life spent diligently acquiring wealth in the hope that it would make life better for his descendants.
Before condemning Kirima, it should be remembered that the largesse we see in society today, particularly in the decades following Kenya’s independence is a new phenomenon in Africa, just as it was in the US and Europe as they began to industrialise.
The issues we grapple with today are the same ones that Americans and Europeans had to deal with in the early 1900s — what ordinary citizens are to do with excess wealth quickly acquired during their lifetimes.
As Africans, it may be wise to look back at the society into which Kirima was born and examine the attitude to wealth as it was then.
According to African Businessmen (Marris and Somerset, 1971), the fact that one’s father was rich did not entitle one to wealth.
Even outstandingly successful men often did not leave their children with any advantages.
They were married to many wives and their most important asset, land, was dissipated among many sons following systematic, culturally acceptable formulae.
Children often made their way through life as poverty stricken orphans.
Their father’s wealth was an achievement to emulate by their own effort rather than a start in life. In the context into which Kirima was born, death signalled the immediate distribution of assets among children with expectations guided and contained by cultural norms.
This worked for Africans then. Land was communally owned (giving it little commercial value), cultural dispute mechanisms were in place complete with institutional memory combined with the ability to enforce strict sanctions and finally, most property was concentrated in one area.
Now property can be acquired in any part of the country and its value can be mind boggling. Children also have expectations that their parents’ wealth is a family asset to which they are entitled whether or not they contributed to its accumulation.
What is the African leader of family business to do when wealth continues to accumulate it quicker than they can ever spend, as eager heirs look forward to their eventual demise? First, the leader must realise that it is their responsibility to distribute their estates as they see fit and to do this when still in their full senses.
While writing wills is commendable, if not done properly, it pushes all pending issues into an uncertain future, pegging an entire family’s wellbeing on the testator’s death.
Second, leaders must invest in projects that continue to give back to society after they die. Systematic philanthropy in which some portions of wealth are assigned to benefit worthy causes about which a leader is passionate are the best way to perpetuate a legacy.
Third and most important, make it clear to family members that their portions of the estate, if any, accrue either from their contribution or the leader’s goodwill. It is not an entitlement.
Mutua is a Humphrey Fellow and a leadership development consultant focused on family businesses. Email [email protected]
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