This archive report was first published on 8 May 2020.
On May 8, 2020, a landmark decision was made in a family dispute that had been ongoing for decades. Judge Aggrey Muchelule ruled that half of the late Cabinet Minister Mbiyu Koinange's estate, estimated at over Sh50 billion, be sold and the proceeds shared equally among his beneficiaries.
The estate, which spans across Kenya, includes thousands of acres of land and properties in Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, Narok, and Kiambu, as well as shares in several companies worth billions of shillings. The judge's decision was a win for Koinange's children, who demanded that the properties be distributed to each individual as opposed to their step-mothers.
According to the judge, the children of the deceased have equal worth, irrespective of their sex or marital status. The law states that a polygamous man's estate be divided among the houses according to the number of children. In distributing the estate, the judge gave preference to where the dependants have been staying and settled to preserve their developments.
The family's biggest fight was for the 246-acre Closeburn Estate in Runda, valued at Sh20 billion. However, the judge directed that Koinange's children should each get 30 acres, while their step-mothers would each get 12 acres. The judge also ordered that 800 acres of Koinange's Muthera Farm, 10 acres of Ehothia Farm, and another five acres be sold and the proceeds used to offset the family's debts and the rest be shared equally among the 12 beneficiaries.
