A fresh war has erupted over a multi-billion-shilling property in the Nairobi Central Business District owned by former powerful politician Peter Mbiyu Koinange.

His widow, Margaret Njeri, and daughter Lennah Catherine have sued his other widows, Eddah Wanjiru and her daughter Fiona Mbiyu, over the Sh2.4 billion piece of land.

They claim that Nairobi County is about to sell it over alleged Sh40 million rates arrears.

Wanjiru and Catherine, in their case before the Civil Court, said that the land was owned by Koinange Investments Development Ltd.

They further stated that he was the director and the majority shareholder, with 32,000 shares forming part of his estate. According to them, the High Court ordered Eddah to account for the money collected from the property over the last 20 years.

They claimed that despite the orders, the amount collected remains a mystery to date.

“The property is currently owing Sh41 million in rates as at February 27,2025 and land rents of more than Sh60 million which remain unpaid to-date. The plaintiffs are in receipt  of an auction notice for the property and the estate stands to lose their prime property,” Njeri and Catherine claimed.

According to them, the parking alone collects at least Sh5 million a month. The two claimed that Eddah has not disclosed more Sh 1.2 billion.

“This revenue is more than sufficient to cover land rates, rent, KRA taxes, and to be fairly distributed among the beneficiaries,” they added.

Njeri and Catherine also want the court to remove Mbiyu’s eldest son, David Njunu, from the company’s CR12.

They stated that the court had allegedly found that he lacked capacity to execute documents; hence, his signature ought to be executed by the registrar of the High Court.

According to them, he was illegally added in the crucial document.

The land battle is part of 44-year war to distribute Sh30 billion empire left by the politician.

Koinange hailed from Kiambu.  He died on September 3, 1981, having left a rich academic and political history. 

He served in the governments of Jomo Kenyatta for 16 years and Daniel arap Moi as a Cabinet minister.

Koinange was polygamous wealthy man who died without a Will. He was estimated to be worth Sh30 billion.

However, the question of who should get a stake and how that ought to be distributed became an unending legal battle.

Justice Eric Ogola was the 26th judge to handle the case, when he ordered that the estate should be distributed.

Nearly all the judges in the High Court and Court of Appeal, except those recently recruited, have in one way or another dealt with the Koinange succession suit.

So have those who went home either by retirement or being dismissed by the Judges and Magistrates Vetting Board.

The case was also at one point heard by Chief Justice Martha Koome, when she was a High Court judge. She described the long-drawn war among the Koinange kin and their lawyers as a theatre of the absurd.

“I am sorry to state that going through this court file, and the tactics employed by the parties and their advocates, the case can only be likened to the classical theatre of the absurd,” Justice Koome said in her ruling dated January 28, 2005.

She added: “It is a shame that 24 years after the death, there seems to be no end in sight. Numerous applications and consent orders have been recorded but very little progress has been made towards the distribution of the estate to the beneficiaries.”

Koinange’s succession duel is among the most unique succession cases in Kenya’s history as more than 50 parallel cases have been filed since the initial case was filed.

For the past 42 years, since succession suit No 527 was filed in court in 1981, the family has known the judiciary like the back of their hands.

Other than the new case over the prime land, there is a separate one lawyer Mwenda Njagi and Njunu over Sh500 million legal fees.

Back to Justice Ogola, he ordered that the administrators of the estate should open a joint account to have the money held by the Unclaimed Financial Asset Authority transferred to the estate. The judge ruled that the money should be used to offset liabilities incurred by the estate.

According to Justice Ogola, a review or a stay of the judgment on how the estate should be distributed would further stall the conclusion of the case that has taken four decades in the corridors of justice.

In a 44-page verdict, Justice Ogola also ordered the administrators to file a surveyor’s report on Closeburn Estate. He said, in case anyone is aggrieved, they should move to the Court of Appeal.

There was no agreement on the acreage of Closeburn Estate.  When Koinange died it was 640.25 acres.

It follows that 291 was sold to the Aga Khan Group, 100 acres to Centum Ltd and three acres to Karura Community Chapel Registered Trustees. 

Justice Ogola was in agreement with Justice Aggrey Muchelule (now a Court of Appeal Judge) that Koinange’s estate should be divided among 12 beneficiaries and not according to the houses.

Justice Muchelule dismissed the Koinange’s sons argument that they should get more than their sisters. He decreed that all children have equal rights irrespective of their gender.

He said the former minister was a classic example to Kenyans that they should write Wills.

“What is not appreciated is that most of the cases involving rich polygamous Kenyans who die intestate have followed a similar pattern: lengthy and complicated litigation, attracting many advocates, and less intention on the part of the parties to bring the matter to an end.  One wishes that all Kenyans can get into the habit of planning their lives, and especially thinking about what will happen to their families and properties upon their death.  It is not too much to ask that the planning be by way of writing Wills,” said Muchelule.