Why the court validated the Njenga Karume Trust

The outcome of the epic court battle pitting a faction of the children of the late Cabinet minister and tycoon Njenga Karume against the trustees appointed by him to manage his multi-billion shilling empire was anxiously awaited not only by the parties themselves, but everyone interested in succession law.

The dispute split the family down the middle, with some siding with the trustees. Unlike most succession cases in Kenya, which are primarily about distribution of property, the case of Albert Kigera Karume & 2 Others v. George Ngugi Waireri & 2 Others (Milimani Civil Case No.125 of 2015), revolved around the complexities of the novel concept of administering the estate of a deceased person by means of a trust as opposed to the traditional method of executors appointed under a Will.