Margaret Njeri Muiruri, mother of politician Tony Gachoka and media personality Ciku Muiruri, finds herself embroiled in a renewed and contentious dispute to protect her family’s Thika farm. This prime property, which serves as both the family residence and a coffee farm, is strategically located bordering the Garissa Road interchange, Thika Superhighway, Chania River, and Ngoingwa Estate. It is formally registered under Central Kenya Limited, a family company where Njeri is the single majority shareholder, with the estate of her late husband, Joseph Muiruri Gachoka, holding the remaining shares. All her children, with the exception of Tony, are listed as shareholders.

This is not the first time Njeri has faced such a challenge from Floriculture International Ltd. In the 1990s, a similar battle unfolded when, unbeknownst to her, a Sh45 million loan was secured from two financial institutions, Katka Islands Ltd and Trust Bank Ltd, using the property as collateral. When the borrower defaulted, the farm was sold to Floriculture for Sh60 million and subsequently charged to Guardian Bank for Sh50 million. Tony Gachoka was reportedly at the center of these transactions. Despite initial setbacks, including a lost case in 2020 which is now under appeal, the family had managed to retain control of the property. Notably, Trust Bank and Trust Finance, also involved in the transactions, later collapsed amidst allegations of impropriety.

The current phase of this long-running saga revolves around an expired 99-year lease, which lapsed in 2005. Njeri states she initiated the renewal process as early as 1989 and followed up in 1992, even obtaining approval for a 45-year extension from Thika Municipality, though the processing file later went missing. However, her pending application for lease renewal has allegedly been bypassed in a