The year 2018 saw children of a number of prominent businessmen, politicians and other public officials who died locked in vicious court battles over the wealth left behind by their parents.
Among families locked in court fights were those of former Internal Security Minister John Michuki and the late Hezbone Shimei Nyong’o, the father to Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyong’o.
Others are former Makueni MP and prominent judge Jackson Mulwa and children of billionaire businessman James Mwangi Kirung’o alias Kahama who owned K1 Club House.
At the centre of the battles is control of the empire left behind amid claims of exclusion.
Ugly fights
Some of the disputes often led to ugly fights that exposed deep-rooted distrust among families once held together by the departed patriarch.
The late Michuki’s daughter, Yvonne Wanja, sued her two siblings Anne Mutahi and Fred Chege for a piece of the multi-billion shilling estate that includes Cargen House on Nairobi’s Harambee Avenue, Windsor Hotel, and Gateway Insurance Company among other assets.
Wanja, the last born child of the former Internal Security minister, wants his vast estate valued and that she receives a sixth of the property.
Michuki’s 1973 will did not disclose the value of his vast investments, but a 2014 report published by a British organisation estimates his wealth at between Sh3 billion and Sh10 billion.
Ms Wanja blamed her two siblings — given powers by the High Court to administer the estate — of mismanaging it.
Another sibling squabble occurred in the family of the late Kirung’o with his daughters fighting over what they termed as exclusion from a Sh2 billion estate that includes Nairobi’s K1 Club House, Kahama hotels, Small World Country Club, land and houses spread across the country.
Mr Kirung’o’s three daughters want the court to force their brothers — John Kirungo Mwangi and Sammy Lonce Wakaina — to share out the estate.
The Nyong’o family has also been torn apart by property ownership wrangles with the battle ending up in court and one of the governor’s nephews pushing for his imprisonment, together with his sister, over contempt of court claims.
The nephew has accused them of excluding other close relatives from the list of beneficiaries of the property.
The property under contention includes 100 acres of land in Miwani and flats on Jogoo Road in Nairobi. Others are parcels of land in Manyatta, Tamu, Milimani Estate and East Rata in Kisumu County.
The High Court directed Prof Nyong’o and his sister Risper Nyagoy to include their nephews on the inheritance list but they defied the order. The nephews want them jailed for defying the court.
Heated battle
On the other hand, the first wife of former Makueni MP and prominent judge, Justice Mulwa, who died in March 2015 is challenging a will that was set to be used to distribute his Sh5 billion estate.
At the centre of the heated battle is a piece of land in the Lukenya area measuring some 3,461 acres and estimated to be worth Sh4.1 billion. The property also includes the prestigious Lukenya Schools.
Children of Garissa tycoon Mahat Kuno Roble have also been involved in a vicious legal battle for control of his business empire.
Some have teamed up to sue their brother, Mohamed, over his control of the landmark Almond Resort, a Garissa-based hotel.
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