From grace to grass: Nasty divorce still troubles former business tycoon

Businessman Suresh Kantaria during the interview in his office on Saturday, June 29th, 2024.[Collins Kweyu, Standard] He made headlines when the court slapped him with a Sh100 million being upkeep for his divorced wife and daughter. But 19 years later, Suresh Kantaria is a pale shadow of his former high-flying self. He leads a lonely life at a rented apartment in Kilimani away from his posh Gigiri home. At the height of his success, the businessman was stinking rich and living life on the fast-lane. He could afford whatever he needed. The man rode in top-of-the-range cars, dined in five-star hotels and was often airborne on business trips. But beneath the veneer of opulence, the Kenwood Trading Company Limited proprietor was an unhappy man. The young man and father of three children had no peace back home. He was constantly quarrelling with his wife Mradula Kantaria. Many are the days he arrived home and went to bed without having dinner. Because of the hostility at home, Kantaria resorted to heavy drinking and would occasionally end up on the streets at night, finding company among the homeless. Eventually, Mradula filed for divorce in 1997 and the marriage was dissolved on February 18, 1999. The court would six years later slap the businessman with a hefty maintenance bill for his wife and daughter. Kantaria now struggles financially and can hardly afford the good life he was accustomed to since childhood, having been brought from an extremely wealthy family. Court battles for almost two decades over property rights have drained his resources such that the mighty he wined and dined with or those he helped to succeed, like a sitting Member of Parliament from Western, have no time for him. "He was my employee and when he ventured into politics, I supported him financially and emotionally; but he does not pick my calls anymore," says Kantaria in reference to the MP. Ironically, amid his current tribulations and frustrations, Kantaria believes he has found happiness away from his 'nagging' ex-wife who is fighting for a share of their estate valued at Sh300 million. In his own estimation, the businessman was a billionaire when High Court Judge Mary Ang'awa on May 10, 2005, ordered that he pays Sh90 million to his divorced wife and Sh10 million to their last born daughter. This was one of the highest divorce settlement in Kenya's history, which Kantaria appealed and Court of Appeal cancelled the award, ordering Kantaria to be giving the estranged wife a monthly stipend of Sh350,000, which he defaulted. The Court of Appeal judges Roselyne Nambuye, Daniel Musinga and Agnes Murgor further quashed the Sh10 million allowance to the couple's daughter. Kantaria has a house in Gigiri, a business premise in Industrial Area, two houses in South C, including undeveloped parcel. The Court of Appeal directed in 2015 that the prime properties in Gigiri and South C be sold and proceeds shared. Kantaria filed an objection and the matter is pending in court while the wife obtained prohibitory orders against sale of their matrimonial immovable property. Meanwhile, the businessman was in 2021 slapped with a Show Cause Notice for failing to pay his wife the monthly allowance, which had accrued to more than Sh25 million. But the man sees courts as insensitive. "The Judiciary is corrupt; I don't give a damn anymore since I have been drained financially in court where some officials have taken sides regarding sale of my properties," says Kantaria as he puffs away his nicotine inhaler. The 73-year-old man believes had the wheels of justice been moving faster, his woes would be history now and he would be a peaceful man in his sunset years, spending most of his time with the grandchildren. The empire he worked so hard to build over the years came down tumbling with the divorce case. Kantaria's case is the classical example of the wealthy falling from grace to grass due to various reasons ranging from poor decision making, bad planning and management, hostile business environment and marital problems among others. In the case of Kantaria, the collapse of his businesses is as a result of irreconcilable differences with his wife. "My wife came from a poor background while I came from an extremely wealthy family. From the start, it was obvious we weren't compatible; she didn't understand how a business is run," he says, blaming himself for the wrong choice he made in marriage. Kantaria and Mradula married on March 16, 1974, in Mombasa and later moved to Nairobi. They have three children but one died. When Kenwood Trading Company Limited was doing well, he had 228 employees across the 28 outlets in the country. "In the business circles, if somebody didn't know about me, then he was not a serious businessman," reminisces Kantaria who currently has eight workers at his Jaribu Credit Traders Limited that leases out his premises along Dar es Salaam Road. The man was introduced to family business in his early 20s before a fall-out that saw Kantaria chart his own path in business. At 26 and just married, he engaged in small tenders before founding in 1978 Kenwood Trading Company Limited that dealt in electronics. But as the business flourished, his differences with the wife worsen to the point he would avoid going home for the sake of own peace. "When I was a billionaire, I ran into many problems. I became depressed, resorted to heavy drinking and found myself mingling at night with members of the street families. All these was due to the frustrations I was getting back home," says Kantaria. May be his busy schedule contributed to the frosty relationship with the wife. When he was not immersed in business meetings, he was airborne travelling in search of business opportunities. "But right now, I don't carry a lot on my hands. When I had lots of money, I was too busy for myself," he says, lifting the lid about what could have caused the divorce that has eventually taken a toll on his mental health due to dragging property suits. Mradula is pushing for auction of properties and the proceeds held in an escrow account of her lawyers, a position Kantaria is against. He insists the properties be valuated to fetch the best prices at current market rates. "Thereafter, each co-owner will be at liberty to look for buyers and the properties shall be sold to those who offer the best prices," Kantaria says in his court documents, arguing that such a sale process will end all the pending litigations touching on the properties. The woman wants the proceeds held in an escrow account from where she will be getting Sh350,000 every month, the amount being for her upkeep. "I do hereby state that the monies owed to me pursuant to the said judgment of the Court of Appeal, including my future maintenance until my demise since I do not intend on remarrying, be paid from the sale proceeds of the said properties," Mradula says in her affidavit. Further Mradula is seeking Sh25 million unpaid upkeep, but her former husband is adamant that the woman owes him more millions due to the fact the mother of his three children continues to live on his property in Gigiri. He maintains that his former wife and daughter Meera Kantaria have refused to vacate from the house he co-owns with his son Keval Kantaria. In the property rights case, the businessman prayed that the accrued upkeep millions he owes his former wife be set off against the accumulated rent arrears incurred by Mradula. Frustrated by what he terms as partisan decisions by Deputy Registrar Catherine Ng'ang'a, Kantaria has petitioned the Judicial Service Commission demanding the disqualification of the official from the property rights suit. "The petitioner is seeking for the removal of the respondent from the office of Deputy Registrar, Family Division or for other disciplinary action in exercise of the commission's power under Article 172 (1) (c) of the Constitution," states Kantaria. The fallen tycoon says the court matters have taken a toll on his mental health and wants JSC to intervene before he is exhausted physically. "I am stuck over these matters that seem not to be ending soon. My former wife and her lawyer have conspired to dispose of my properties worth Sh300 million for a paltry Sh150 million. This is so unfair and the courts are aiding in this evil scheme," says Kantaria.

From grace to grass: Nasty divorce still troubles former business tycoon

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From grace to grass: Nasty divorce still troubles former business tycoon

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