Bhola grandchildren win estate war against uncle

Bhola’s grandchildren win a 30-year estate case after their uncle is removed as administrator for mismanagement. Top of Form. [File Courtesy]

The grandchildren of the late Nakuru and Laikipia rancher Mohammed Bhola have succeeded in their bid to remove Bhola’s son, their uncle, as the administrator of his estate.

Bhola, a prominent rancher in Rumuruti (Laikipia) and Maralal, and a businessman in Nakuru, Islamabad (Pakistan) and London, died in 1996, leaving behind his brother, sons and other beneficiaries.

Apart from owning Bhola House in Nakuru City, Rift Valley Electrical and Kanini Plaza, he also owned over 6,000 cattle, 5,000 goats and 4,000 sheep, as well as properties in Kenya and abroad.

Judge Patricia Gichohi has brought to an end a 30-year dispute between Bhola’s grandchildren, Saheel Mughal and Arfhan Rashid, and his son, Mohammed Shabir. The two grandchildren are sons of Shabir’s late brother, Rashid Mughal.

Justice Gichohi ruled that Shabir was unfit to manage the estate and revoked the grant of letters of administration issued to him on August 7, 1998 and confirmed on December 6, 2000. “Within 30 days, the beneficiaries are directed to appoint new administrators for the management of the estate,” she ruled.

According to the judge, through their lawyer Steve Biko, the grandchildren proved that Shabir had failed to manage the estate with due diligence. “It was contended and unopposed that the respondent engaged in waste of estate property, thereby exposing the assets to the risk of total dissipation,” she noted.

The court found that Shabir did not challenge allegations that he had subdivided and sold family land to third parties and leased out other properties.

The judge further held that he had failed to render a true and just account of the estate, in breach of his statutory duties. “The duties of an administrator are not merely administrative, but a statutory mandate anchored under the Law of Succession Act,” she ruled.

Court records showed that although a judgment was issued in 2014, Shabir failed to submit accounts within six months of confirmation of the grant.

“His delay represents a manifest failure to discharge his duties. The totality of the evidence confirms he has failed to administer the estate with the diligence and transparency required by law,” she said.

The grandchildren had argued that the estate was at risk unless Shabir was removed. They also sought orders compelling him to account for losses and restraining him from selling or subdividing property in Rumuruti.

Their lawyer further accused Shabir of a lack of transparency and alleged threats to deplete the inheritance before distribution.

The court also barred Bhola’s niece, Zahida Mughal, from the estate, finding that she was neither a beneficiary nor an administrator.

Zahida had sought division of the estate, claiming her late father, Mohammed Latif, had been a business partner of Bhola with equal shares in the family business.

However, the judge dismissed her claim, noting she had already been allocated land from a separate estate involving her father.

“The applicant is unfairly seeking to claim property already adjudicated under another estate,” she ruled.