Chris Kirubi Two Rivers: The High Court ruling that was made last week on how the family of a late powerful cabinet secretary would divide wealth came as a win for billionaire businessman Chris Kirubi.
This is after the court shielded Chris Kirubi’s Centum Investments from a land row it had been dragged into concerning the ownership of the Two Rivers Mall. The row involved members of the late Jomo Kenyatta ally Mbiyu Koinange. Through Centum, which owns Two Rivers and of which Kirubi is the single largest shareholder, Two Rivers said in a court affidavit that a survey will prove that it sits on legally and legitimately acquired land.
How High Court has divided Koinange’s Sh. 14 billion wealth
One of the one of the widows of Mbiyu Koinange, Eddah Wanjiru Mbiyu, questioned the Sh. 1.1 billion deal. She had applied for the re-surveying of a parcel of land sold by the family to Kirubi’s Centum Ltd. Apparently, Ms. Wanjiru claims that Centum bought in excess of the quoted 100 acres.
The Two Rivers land was under a property dubbed Closeburn, which had 600 acres that has recently been subdivided. About 260 acres of the property were sold to an international investment group and another 100 acres to Centum Investment. The remaining 240 acres are valued at Sh. 2.88 billion. The daughter of Koinange, Lenah, was accused of hiving off another 88 acres of land adjacent to Two-Rivers Mall—which is considered the juiciest assets among the properties of the late minister.
In a ruling on how the wealth of the former minister would be divided, Justice Aggrey Muchelule said that Kirubi’s Centum was sold 100 acres and another international investment firm 291 acres of the 640 acres property known as Closeburn, adding that remaining 246 acres is the one contested and questionable. He added that the Centum deal was sanctioned by the court and there is no evidence to suggest it was more than 100 acres. Centum bought the land for Sh. 1.1 billion in 2010 and set up the Two Rivers Mall on it.