Michuki’s daughter gets respite in row over Sh184m
Former Internal Security Minister the late John Njoroge Michuki.
A dispute between the daughter of former Internal Security minister John Michuki and a law firm over Sh184 million legal fee has taken a new twist after a judge suspended the magistrate court from proceeding with the matter.
Justice Lydia Achode ordered the magistrate court to temporarily stop dealing with the application filed by the law firm, Agimba and Associates Advocates, pending determination of an appeal lodged by Michuki’s daughter, Yvonne Wanja Michuki.
At stake in the dispute is a claim by the law firm for payment of Sh184 million for legal services rendered to Ms Michuki in a property inheritance case involving estates of her parents (Mr John Michuki and Josephine Watiri).
The estates, comprising various assets such as the once vibrant Windsor Golf Hotel, are said to be worth Sh30 billion.
Ms Michuki moved to the High Court early this year after the magistrate court’s taxing officer dismissed her objection against the legal bill of costs filed by the advocates.
According to her lawyer Wanja Wambugu, the basis of the objection was that the advocates should not have filed the bill since there was an agreement between them and Ms Michuki on legal fees before they rendered the services.
While urging Justice Achode to suspend the proceedings at the lower court, Ms Wambugu stated that the magistrate erred in throwing out the objection because the contract between the advocate and the client was binding. “In the absence of the stay order, the appeal will be nugatory and the appellant will be prejudiced. The stay order is to allow the appellant a chance to argue her appeal against the ruling. It is a straightforward matter,” she added. The proceedings at the lower court were set to resume on May 16.
Agimba advocates did not respond to Ms Michuki’s request for stay. Ms Michuki appointed the law firm in 2018 to challenge the appointment of her siblings Ann Mutahi and Fred Chege as administrators of the estates of their parents.
A year later, she fell out with the advocates and switched representation to W G Wambugu & Company Advocates – her current lawyer.
Mr Michuki died on February 12, 2012 after a heart attack. His wife died on August 22, the same year.
For six years, the Michuki family seemed to have resolved their differences on inheritance silently as not many knew that trouble was bubbling, until Yvonne moved to court, seeking division of the Sh30 billion estate equally among all siblings.
In 2018, she challenged the appointment of her two siblings as administrators of the Michuki estate and made allegations of mismanagement and embezzlement in the operations of the Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club.
She also demanded valuation of the multi-billion estate and her rightful share. She claimed to have been "excluded from discussions with other beneficiaries with regards to the estate."
When he wrote his will in 1973, Mr Michuki had named his wife Josephine, together with then East African Breweries executive Kenneth Matiba, as the executors of the estate.
