Titanic battle for lawyer Kimani Muhoro’s millions

Advocate Kimani Muhoro at a past event [Courtesy]

A titanic battle has erupted in the family of lawyer Kimani Muhoro, who died intestate three months ago, over his millions.

The fighting, which unfolded on March 17 at Ruai RFH Specialists hospital, has intensified and is headed to courts to determine whether the lawyer was married at the time of his death.

At stake are two three-bedroom mansions in South B, a two-bedroom house in Hazina Estate, Nairobi, a four-bedroom house in Msambweni, seven vehicles and the nine-acre parcel of land in Githiga where he was buried on March 24.

Also at stake are other plots and pieces of land scattered in Kiambu, Kajiado and Naivasha, and proceeds from the winding up of his lucrative, Kimani Muhoro and Company Advocates.

The lawyer who represented Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) made millions during the 2013 and 2017 presidential election petitions.

According to the Auditor General’s report last year, Muhoro was among the lawyers who were owed Sh400 million by IEBC. He had been paid Sh24.3 million for defending the commission in court but was still owed Sh25.9 million by the end of last year.

Signals that all was not well as indicated in the eulogy prepared by the family showed that Muhoro had two children, Philip Gichuru and Stephanie Wanjiku, but did not acknowledge their mothers or his wife. Also blacked out were his stepmother and stepbrother.

Githiga chief Stephen Mwaniki Njuguna on Wednesday confirmed he had issued letters to three different parties who have staked a claim in the lawyer's empire.

One of the claimants, Nancy Gakii who was living with Muhoro at the time of his death says she was chased away from the hospital minutes after he died.

“When I arrived at the hospital, I met some of Muhoro’s relatives who asked me whether I wanted to view the body before it was transferred to a morgue. They told me to surrender his national identity card and other personal effects such ATMs to facilitate the process of having his body released.”

Gakii who has sworn an affidavit that she had lived with the lawyer since 1999 after a Meru customary wedding, said she was later informed that she could not go back to Githiga since she was just an employee at Plainsview estate, where she was staying with Muhoro. The guards were instructed not to let her in as she was wanted by police for motor vehicle theft.

Her trouble started when she refused to surrender Muhoro’s three vehicles among them a Toyota Prado, to a relative.  A report was made at Githiga police post and relayed to Industrial Area station to the effect that she was wanted for theft.

“I had to go into hiding. At one point, I was almost sprayed with bullets by the police as I was driving one of my vehicles. I am now living like a refugee because there are some families who want me out so that they can share out our property,” Gakii says.

The chief said that soon after Muhoro’s death, there were reports of missing vehicles and some cows from his farm being sold and since Gakii had disappeared, the home was put under police protection.

On May 19, this year, the chief wrote to the manager of GDC Sacco limited where Muhoro was delivering milk.

”The above-mentioned deceased person hailed from Githiga. He is confirmed dead. Prior to his death, the deceased was operating an account in your esteemed Sacco."

“This is to confirm that family sat down, discussed and agreed that the account be closed and the balance transferred to a joint account of Philip Gichuru and Stephanie Angela Wanjiku Kimani, the intended administrators of the deceased estate."

The two are alleged to be Muhoro’s children from two different mothers.

Njuguna further granted another letter to Muhoro’s stepbrother, Timothy Kimani, who is also interested in the estate as it formed part of his father’s estate.

Timothy said that he was not interested in his stepbrother’s property but wanted to be included in the succession case of his father, Jesee Gihuru Muhoro, who died without a will in 2013.

Timothy’s mother, Mary Wambui said that she had been married to Jesee on December 17, 1999. Previously Jesee had been married to Mary Wanjiku, Muhoro's biological mother, who died leaving behind five children.

Wambui said she later divorced Jesee and moved into a house in Buruburu, but was aware that Nancy and Muhoro were married.

Asked why he issued these letters to different people, the chief said that Philip and Stephanie had produced birth certificates showing that they were Muhoro's children and Nancy had produced an affidavit saying she was Muhoro's wife.

"A chief has no powers to say who should inherit Muhoro. That is why I have given letters to these people so that they can all be parties in the succession case. It's up to the High Court to determine who will be the administrators of Muhoro's estate."  

But even as the interested parties battle for the lawyer's millions, they ought to pay heed to his mantra, which guided him on Facebook: "It's not when my voice is raised you should worry, it's when I have nothing more to say."