The family has battled in court for years over inheritance rights, representation and allegations of exclusion.
A man accused of assaulting his mother and threatening to disinherit family members has lost a bid to take control of his grandfather’s multimillion-shilling estate, even as the High Court revoked a grant that had made another relative the sole administrator.
Alex Mbugua Kigo, who had asked the court to appoint him as co-administrator of the estate of businessman Samuel Mbugua Kiarie, suffered the setback after his sister opposed the move, accusing him of physically attacking their mother and interfering with family inheritance matters.
The Kiarie family has battled in court for years over inheritance rights, representation and allegations of exclusion.
Justice Abigail Mshila revoked a grant issued in November 2023 to Richard Njoroge Gachuiri after finding that beneficiaries from one side of the polygamous family had been excluded from the process.
She ordered that a fresh joint grant be issued to Mr Gachuiri and Cecilia Wairimu Mbugua, Kiarie’s daughter.
Mr Kigo had wanted the court to revoke Mr Gachuiri’s appointment as sole administrator and restore a structure representing both widows of the deceased.
He argued that the estate had historically been managed by two administrators, each representing one side of the family, but the arrangement collapsed after the death of Wilfred Kiarie Mbugua in 2017.
According to court records, Wilfred had represented the first house before his death. After, Mr Gachuiri moved to court and was appointed sole administrator in November 2023.
Mr Kigo complained that beneficiaries from the first wife were neither consulted nor involved in the process that gave Mr Gachuiri sole control of the estate.
Physically assaulting their mother
“The estate has always had two administrators each representing each house,” Mr Kigo told the court.
He also said the court had been misled into believing beneficiaries from the first house had consented to the arrangement.
But the succession fight took a dramatic turn when Mr Kigo’s sister opposed his bid to become co-administrator. In an affidavit filed in court, Rahab Njoki Kigo accused her brother of physically assaulting their mother, leading to criminal proceedings, and threatening to disinherit both her and their mother.
She urged the court not to appoint him as administrator, saying he would not act in the best interests of the estate. Her objections strengthened opposition already mounted by Mr Gachuiri, Rose Mukuhi Gachuiri and Cecilia Wairimu Mbugua, who had challenged Mr Kigo’s suitability.
The respondents described him as temperamental and accused him of interfering with estate affairs. They also argued that some individuals claiming links to the estate had failed to prove their relationship to the deceased.
The respondents also accused Mr Kigo’s late father, Isaac Kigo Mbugua, of fraudulently obtaining the earlier grant.
While defending his own appointment, Mr Gachuiri admitted that some beneficiaries had been omitted during the process of obtaining the 2023 grant, although he maintained that the omission was inadvertent.
He disclosed that one beneficiary, Gachuiri Kagotho, had been unintentionally left out and said the estate was willing to rectify the error.
“There is evidence that not all beneficiaries from the first house were involved,” Justice Mshila observed, noting that the omission had been acknowledged by the administrator himself.
The court then considered who was best placed to represent the excluded house. The respondents stated that Cecilia ranked higher in priority because she was the daughter of the deceased, while Mr Kigo was a grandchild. The court agreed.
Justice Mshila also suspended confirmation proceedings that Mr Gachuiri had initiated in February 2024 pending the amendment of succession documents to include all beneficiaries who had previously been left out.
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