Mbiyu Koinanges multi-billion estate to be shared equally among 12 beneficiaries, court rules

The High Court has finally delivered a judgement on the matter of the multi-billion estate of former Cabinet Minister Paul Mbiyu Koinange, one of the oldest succession cases in the country.

Koinange, who served in the governments of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi, died on September 3, 1981; leaving behind property and an estate worth an estimated over Ksh.30 billion today.

The polygamous man left behind four wives; Loise Njeri Mbiyu (who died in 1966), Rith Damaris Wambui Mbiyu (who died in 2010), Margaret Njeri Mbiyu and Eddah Wanjiru Mbiyu.

Loise Njeri Mbiyu had six children with the deceased, 3 of whom have since died, while Rith Damaris Wambui Mbiyu bore him seven children out of whom only two remain; Koinange’s third and fourth wives bore him no children.

One of the most contested property in the case was the prime Closeburn Estate which was initially 640 acres but 291 acres have since been sold to the Aga Khan Group, 100 acres to Centum Ltd, and 3 acres to Karuta Community Chapel Registered Trustees.

The court directed the administrators to measure the remaining acreage of the estate using a government surveyor with the purpose of recovering any land that might have been lost and proportionately share whatever will be recovered.

“The sharing of the Closeburn Estate shall ensure that each of the 12 beneficiaries get at least one acre touching the Limuru Highway tarmac road,” ruled the court.

According to court reports seen by Citizen Digital, there was also the issue of a sum of Ksh.284 million which was previously deposited into a joint account held at Eco Bank by advocates of the various houses but which is mysteriouslly now “no longer available.”

Koinange’s third and fourth wives – Margaret Njeri Mbiyu and Eddah Wanjiru Mbiyu respectively – had argued that “the deceased was a prominent Kikuyu polygamous man whose estate should be distributed in accordance with Kikuyu customary law which provided that each house should equally benefit from the estate, notwithstanding the number of children, if at all, in each house.”

Justice Aggrey Muchelule ruled that all the children of the deceased are beneficiaries of his estate and that each child has an equal claim, regardless of their sex.

Justice Muchelule further stated that shares in various property owned by the deceased “shall all be sold and the proceeds shared equally among the 12 beneficiaries.”

Among these include; 32000 Shares in Koinange Investments Development Limited, 508 shares in Kenyattu Trading Company Limited, as well as shares in ICDC, Theta Group Limited, KPCU, Koiri Limited etc.