Governor Nyong’o ordered to include nephews in late father's multi-million property

Kisumu Governor Peter Anyang Nyong'o

KISUMU, KENYA: A governor and his sister have been ordered by the High Court to include all children of their two sisters in the list of beneficiaries of their late father’s multi-million property.

Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o and his sister Risper Nyagoy who have been benefiting from property were also ordered to file an account of the father’s property since a grant was awarded to them and file it within 45 days..

In her judgement, Justice Thrispisa Cherere also revoked the administrative certificate that placed the duo as the sole controllers of the expansive estate.

In the suit, Nyongo’s nephews Geoffrey Omondi and Kenneth Odhiambo had sought for orders of the court to have their families included in the list of beneficiaries.

They also argued that other family members were also left in the list of beneficiaries.

The property valued at about Sh200 million include 100 acres piece of land in Miwani under a 99-year lease, parcels of land in Manyatta, Tamu and Milimani estates, and East Rata in Seme sub-county in Kisumu.

It also includes another parcel of land along Jogoo Road in Nairobi which currently has flats built on it. In earlier proceedings, Nyongo and Nyagoy had objected to the inclusion of the two nephews as administrators arguing that they were not beneficiaries of the property.

Nyagoy, who also represented Prof Nyong’o, told a Kisumu court that the omissions were not done in bad faith. She said that one of her siblings, Charles Nyong’o, disappeared in 1980 and never returned home.

Nyagoy argued that even though Nyong’o took care of his two nephews after the death of their parents, they were not beneficiaries of their grandfather’s property.

“Nyong’o has six children and Omondi was treated like one of them,” said Nyagoy.

She claimed that Odhiambo’s name was not included because he was not considered part of the family as he was away from home most of the time.

Nyagoy admitted that a grant issued in 2014 for the estate had a number of discrepancies, including a wrong name and the omission of her mother’s name.

Another letter presented in court that was reportedly written by a chief also indicated that some of the names of their siblings were left out.

“I only learnt about the errors in the grant last week,” she said.

In their joint affidavit, the duo had also termed the case as incompetent and intended to paint the family in a bad light and urged the court to dismiss it.

In her judgement however, Justice Cherere said that the grant that the two obtained to manage the property was obtained illegally.

“I am satisfied that the grant was obtained by concealment of material facts and no-disclosure of the applicant’s interest and on the basis of untrue allegations,” said Justice Cherere. 

Justice Cherere also appointed Okuthe as one of the co-administrators and told the three to apply for a grant within 60 days.

Past attempts to solve the case out of court failed to materialize after the family failed to reach an agreement.