This archive report was first published on 8 May 2020.
On May 7, 2020, the High Court delivered a judgement that would change the fate of the late Njenga Karume's multi-billion shilling empire. The court ordered the removal of George Ngugi Waireri, Kung'u Gatabaki, and Margaret Nduta Kamithi from the Njenga Karume Trust and the Njenga Karume Trust Registered Trustees.
The decision was made after some beneficiaries, who are the late Karume's children, led by Albert Kigera, Lucy Karume, and Samuel Wanjema, applied for the removal of the Trustees. The children had accused the Trustees of breaching the Trust Deed and holding personally liable to indemnify the Njenga Karume Trust and the Njenga Karume Trust Registered Trustees for losses and damages suffered by the entities and their beneficiaries.
The late Njenga Karume had established a private trust to which he transferred 99 percent of his businesses before his death in 2012. The trust was valued at Sh50 billion at the time of his death. The businesses included the Jacaranda Hotel in Westlands, Indian Ocean Beach Resorts in Diani, and Cianda House along Koinange Street in Nairobi.
The court found that the Trustees had failed to account for Sh280 million, the balance from the sale of a parcel of land to Kenyatta University Retirement Benefit Scheme. The Trustees were also found to have borrowed substantially from financial institutions without consulting the beneficiaries of the Trust and its instruments.
According to the court, the Trustees were found to have breached the Trust Deed and were personally liable to indemnify the Njenga Karume Trust and the Njenga Karume Trust Registered Trustees for losses and damages suffered by the entities and their beneficiaries.
Justice R.E Aburili, in the ruling, said,
