New twist in Koinange family feud over Mau Narok farm

In 2005, Chief Justice Martha Koome, then a High Court judge, described the incessant wrangles among the late former Cabinet minister Mbiyu Koinange’s relatives and their lawyers as an unending circus.

Immediately after Koinange’s death on September 3, 1981, his widows and children asked the court to help them distribute his wealth.

In a January 28, 2005 ruling, CJ Koome stated: “I am sorry to state that going through this court file and the tactics employed by the parties and their advocates can only be likened to the classical theatre of the absurd.”

One of the properties left by the late minister was Muthera farm (LR No. 8669/3 Mau Narok). It is 4,292 acres in Mau Narok, Nakuru County, and has been a “war zone” for years over its ownership and administration.

In a landmark decision that settled one of the oldest family disputes in Kenya, Justice Aggrey Muchelule, at the High Court in Nairobi’s Milimani Law Courts delivered the Judgement on May 7, 2020 and directed that 800 acres of it be sold to cover liabilities, debts and the costs of administering the estate.

12 beneficiaries

Justice Muchelule ruled that another 150 acres be used for roads, a police station, a school and other common amenities. That would leave 3,342 acres to be shared equally among 12 beneficiaries, with each getting 278.5 acres.

But even after the Supreme Court shared the properties of the late politician, who served in the governments of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel Moi, there seems to be no end in sight to court battles over his estate.

In a new twist of events, a fresh case is building up at the Nakuru High Court after one of Koinange’s sons sued Nakuru County Commissioner Erastus Mbui, arguing that he had disobeyed court orders to provide him security at the troubled Muthera farm.

Mr Mbui was directed on August 5 to provide Koinange’s son David Njunu Koinange, an administrator of the land, with security so that he could access and manage the property.

Mr Mbui and the county police commander were to provide officers to accompany Mr Njunu to the land. But Mr Njunu, through his lawyer Joseph Karanja Mbugua, returned to the court and accused the county commissioner of failing to comply with the orders.

He wants Mr Mbui to be found guilty of contempt of court and be jailed.

Stepmothers

Mr Njunu, through lawyer Peter Njagi, has also moved to the Supreme Court to challenge the inclusion of stepmothers Margaret Njeri and Eddah Wanjiru Mbiyu as beneficiaries.

Mr Njagi had been appointed on April 6, 2018 by Mr Njunu, the firstborn son of Koinange’s first wife, to represent him at the Supreme Court, where he was seeking to block Margaret Njeri and Eddah Wanjiru from getting a share of the estate valued at Sh17 billion, among other property in the year 2018.

Mr Njagi is among 17 lawyers, including Paul Muite and Ahmednadir Abdullahi, who are representing different parties in the case.

The Court of Appeal had recognised the two widows as stepmothers of the two sons of Koinange and ruled that they are entitled to a share of the estate.

Muthera farm standoff

But the Muthera farm standoff between Mr Njunu and the Nakuru security administration is in the fore because Margaret Njeri and Eddah Wanjiru, alongside their stepdaughter, are also administrators of the farm and are said to be using locals to block him from entering the farm.

Speaking to the Nation by phone, the manager of Muthera farm, Mr Konene Nkuruna, said Mr Njunu, who is listed as one of the administrators of the farm by the family, has no mandate to make an overall decision without the rest of Koinange’s two widows and daughter who must be involved in anything affecting the farm.

“As the management and on behalf of the rest of the Koinange family, we are not aware of the case of Mr Njunu taking Nakuru county security bosses to court. Nobody blocked him from accessing the land, but according to the administrators who hired us, he is not overall [in] the farm administration but [is] always involved in collective decisions,” said Mr Nkuruna.

He said operations on the vast land leased to over 2,000 smallholder farmers from Nakuru and Nyandarua to grow carrots, potatoes and beans, among other crops, were continuing smoothly and there was no interruption.

No intruders

“But I have strict orders from the administrators not to allow intruders into the farm who are out to cause conflict…the family lawyers are also handling the legal matters concerning Mr Njunu’s case with security [agencies] in Nakuru,” he added.

Mr Njunu, who was confirmed the administrator to the estate on May 7 last year, told the High Court that he had been unable to access the land because of security concerns.

He said he had prepared to plant crops on the land but some individuals were threatening his security.

The farm has four administrators, all members of the Koinange family: Mr Waiganjo, who before he died last year was replaced by his sister Lenah Mbiyu, Mr Njunu, Eddah Wanjiru and Magret Njeri.

The ownership of Muthera farm is also at the centre of a bitter dispute between the Koinange family and a group from the Maasai community.

The dispute escalated in 2010 following the killing of land rights activist Moses ole Mpoe, who was shot dead along with Paarsayia ole Kitu by gunmen on motorbikes as he approached the Nakuru-Eldoret-Njoro junction on December 3 that year.

The disputed property belongs to the Koinanges but some members of the Maasai community claim that it is their ancestral land.

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