Mbiyu Koinange’s Property: A fresh battle for control of former powerful cabinet minister and Jomo Kenyatta’s ally Mbiyu Koinange’s Sh. 10 billion estate has erupted.
The fresh battle for the billions has now put the distribution of wealth among Mbiyu’s four wives in jeopardy.
According to a report that appeared in the Business Daily on Tuesday, Koinange’s fourth wife, Eddah Wanjiru Mbiyu has sued to have one of Mbiyu’s daughters, last-born daughter, Lennah Wanjiku, return 88 acres of land situated next to the Two Rivers mall. The land is estimated to be worth Sh. 1.4 billion.
The report says that Ms. Eddah Wanjiru is being backed by the majority of the family members. She has also sought that the court stops the distribution of Mbiyu’s wealth until the land is returned.
“This will stall implementation of a Supreme Court ruling that Mr Koinange had four wives who should inherit his Sh. 10 billion empire. The ruling that Koinange’s two wives, previously sidelined by the High Court, should also get a share of the estate was expected to put to rest the 38-year-old succession fight,” says the report in the Business Daily.
READ MORE: How Mbiyu Koinange’s Sh. 17.4 billion estate was shared among his family
Apparently, says Mrs. Mbiyu, the 88 acres were hived off land that was sold to Centum Investment for the construction of Two Rivers without the knowledge of the family or administrators of the estate.
But Ms. Wanjiku has refuted this and said that the family was aware of her stay on the 88 acres after she was forcefully evicted from the Two Rivers land. She argues that she has already made investments worth Sh. 450 million in the property. Strikingly, Ms. Wanjiku has also said that if the court allows her to stay on the property, she will willingly surrender other assets that are due to her with the distribution order.
“The disputed Mbiyu Koinange’s property include one of the biggest undeveloped plots in the Nairobi CBD, a Sh2 billion holding next to the Reinsurance Plaza. There are also shares in numerous firms, including Magadi Soda, BAT, Centum and Limuru Dairy as well multi-billion shilling land and buildings in Kiambu, Nakuru and Mombasa,” says the Business Daily in the report.