President Uhuru Kenyatta has been named among the top five wealthiest Kenyans. The president was named by a new report that was released by international inequality organization Oxfam.
According to Oxfam, President Uhuru is the fourth wealthiest Kenyan with a fortune of $530 million (Sh. 60 billion). However, the organization was quick to point out that his huge net worth is likely associated with the wider Kenyatta family wealth which is estimated to run into hundreds of billions.
The figures used y Oxfam were based on data from Wealth-X, which is an organisation that tracks the records of the world’s wealthiest individuals. According to Oxfam, the data was up to date as at November 30, 2021. However, the data could be widely underestimated as Kenya’s richest persons operate in cloud of secrecy.
In the list of wealth Kenyans, the top two ranked Kenyans were Sameer Naushad Merali and Bhimji Depar Shah with fortunes of $790 million (Sh. 89.6 billion) and $750 million (Sh. 85 billion) respectively. This made Sameer the richest man in Kenya according to the list.
Sameer Merali is the heir to the Naushad Merali, who died in July 2021. Shah is the founder of Bidco Group of Companies and has previously dominated the list of wealthiest persons in Kenya.
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The others were textile manufacturer Jaswinder Singh Bedi whose fortune stood at $680 million (Sh. 77.1 billion) and Mahendra Rambhai Patel with $430 million (Sh. 48.7 billion) wealth. The Mahendra Rambhai Patel family owns Ramco Group, a business conglomerate with interests in print, hardware, manufacturing, office supply and property sectors.
“The two richest people have more wealth than 16.5 million Kenyans. Between 2016 and 2021, the number of individuals with wealth over $50 million increased from 80 to 120. Their combined wealth increased from $12.73 billion to $17.4 billion, an increase of 36.8 percent, adjusted for inflation,” said Oxfam.
However, the position of who is the richest man in Kenya may still be contested. For example, the report said that there are currently no dollar billionaires in Kenya. The Oxfam report says there are 19 dollar billionaires in Africa with a combined net worth of $73.4 billion (Sh. 8.3 trillion).