State banks on new taskforce to reform public trustee department

The government has established a new taskforce to improve access to the estates of deceased relatives for thousands of Kenyans facing delays in the succession process.

The taskforce will also spearhead reforms in the Public Trustee Department to allow easy processing of property belonging to minors, persons of unsound mind and trusts held by the State.

The taskforce has been given four months to conduct a comprehensive audit of the department, streamline the administration of estates and trusts, clear case backlogs, and recommend legal and institutional reforms to enhance service delivery.

Speaking during the inauguration of the Task Force on the Incorporation and Institutional Transformation of the Public Trustee Department at Sheria House in Nairobi, Attorney General Dorcas Oduor said many Kenyans have suffered for years due to delays in the administration of estates.

"Kenyans have come to my office with files that are older than their children. Widows have waited years for distributions that, in a functional system, should have taken months. That is not acceptable, and it will not continue," she said.

"Four months is a short time. It is also enough time, if used well, to tell Kenyans precisely what is wrong, fix what can be fixed immediately, and hand me the legal and institutional blueprint to fix the rest," she added, challenging the team.

The taskforce was established through Gazette Notice dated June 12, 2026, as part of efforts to transform the Public Trustee Department into a more efficient, transparent and accountable institution in the administration of estates and succession matters.

Ms Oduor noted that Public Trustee is one of the oldest public institutions in Kenya, having managed estates and trusts for more than a century. Its role includes protecting the inheritances of orphans, and to ensure that property left behind after a bereavement is not lost to opportunists, forgotten in drawers, or consumed by delay.

However, she said the institution has for decades operated as a department within the Office of the Attorney General, contrary to its original legal intention.

“The Public Trustee was never intended to be a department tucked inside a ministry; it is a body corporate. Parliament envisaged an autonomous and corporately-agile institution,” she said.

"That arrangement may have facilitated bureaucratic bottlenecks, fragmented accountability and consequently, the steady erosion of public trust," she added.

Chaired by Linda Murila, the taskforce has been mandated to map and audit every file held by the Public Trustee Department at its headquarters and regional offices.

Members of the taskforce include Rose Mbanya, Evans Obote, Peter Kimaile, Nilfat Kassim Ali, Dr Elijah Ambasa and Areba Omwoyo Samba.

Others are Dr Florence Muinde, Dr Rebecca Lomong, Naaman Geda and Mohammed Shuriye

According to Oduor, the exercise will establish the exact number of pending files, how long each has remained unresolved and the reasons behind the delays.

" For the first time, we will know precisely how many files there are, how long each has been open, and what, specifically, is holding it up. Where a file can be closed immediately once it is found, it will be closed immediately," she said.

The team will also recommend simplified procedures to ensure straightforward cases are not delayed by more complex matters, while developing standard operating procedures and monitoring systems to prevent future backlogs.

In addition, the taskforce will assess the department's presence across the country and develop a transition roadmap to expand services to underserved areas, ensuring access is based on need rather than location.

The team has further been tasked with reviewing the Law of Succession Act and recommending reforms to strengthen the protection of widows, orphans and persons with disabilities, who are often the most affected by delays in estate administration.

At the end of the four months, the Attorney General expects the taskforce to submit recommendations on the legal framework, governance structure, financing and asset transfer arrangements required to transform the Public Trustee Department into an autonomous, corporately governed institution.

"I expect a work plan within three weeks and periodic progress reports thereafter. At the end of four months, I will receive your final report, your transition roadmap and the draft instruments required to give effect to your recommendations. We will then move, without delay, towards implementation," she said.

Oduor reaffirmed the government's commitment to restoring public confidence in the institution.

"We are building an institution worthy of the trust placed in it by grieving families, by minors who cannot advocate for themselves, and by every Kenyan who has ever written a will and hoped that, on a difficult day, the State would honor their wishes," she said.