Former Nakuru Mayor Joseck Thuo Ngeta .
Former Nakuru mayor and businessman Joseck Thuo’s widow has obtained orders barring her stepson from controlling part of the tycoon’s business.
Ms Susan Wanjiru successfully applied to court for orders restraining her step-son Geoffrey Ngeta Thuo from dealing and interfering with the running of the Abbey Resort in Nakuru, which is part of Mr Thuo’s estate.
The widow had accused the stepson, who is a co-shareholder and the managing director of the hotel, of mismanaging the property by failing to honor its financial obligations and misappropriating the company’s revenues.
According to the widow, she is a beneficiary of the hotel with 1,400 shares alongside his stepson, who inherited her husband’s majority shareholding of 5100 shares to become the director of the hotel.
She told the court that Mr Ngeta has been mismanaging the hotel and defaulted on payment of the loan after the death of Mr Thuo.
Justice Hedwigs Ong’udi in her ruling noted that the court had a responsibility to give a remedy that carries the lowest risk for either party based on the outcome of the case.
“To balance the interest of the parties shall proceed to grant a temporary injunction restraining Mr Ngeta his servants, agents and/or employees from selling, alienating, transferring, charging, disposing, removing or in any manner whatsoever dealing, with the assets of the Abbey resort pending filing of the derivative suit,” ruled Justice Ong’udi.
Mr Thuo died on December 27, 2021, at Mater Hospital, aged 88, and was survived by two wives and five children.
The wives are Mary Wanjiru Thuo and Susan Wanjiru Thuo, and the children are James Ngeta, Geoffrey Ngeta, Eric Kimondo, Nixon Kariuki, and Judy Mukami.
Ms Wanjiru moved to court on February 6, seeking to be allowed to sue on behalf of Abbey Resort over the actions of Mr Ngeta to mismanage and breach of duty and trust in his capacity as the Managing Director of the hotel.
Also Read: Cohen's will forged, Sarah Wairimu claims
She sought to have him compelled to produce the books of records, banking slips, audited financial accounts, and bank statements of the hotel that are in his custody from 2022 up to date.
According to the widow, the hotel had secured a loan of Sh35 million in the year 2015, and as per the terms of the loan agreement, the hotel was to repay in monthly instalments of Sh574,000.
However, after the death of Mr Thuo, Mr Ngeta, who assumed the leadership of the hotel, began mismanaging and defaulted on paying the mandatory installments to the bank. As of February, the company had accumulated loan arrears amounting to Sh1.6 million.
Also Read: I married American to access grants, Simeon Nyachae’s ‘wife’ claims in fight for his billions
She expressed fears that the operations of the hotel risked being brought to a halt and, even worse, be exposed to legal proceedings for debt recovery and auctioning of its assets should the court fail to intervene.
Mr Ngeta, however, in his defence denied the claims and sought to have the application dismissed for not meeting the threshold.
He claimed to be the sole director and that the widow had no claim over it.
However, Justice Ong’udi noted that Ms Wanjiru stood to suffer loss should the actions of Mr Ngeta affect the operations of the hotel negatively.
“In other words, there is a likelihood that she would suffer irreparable harm. Additionally, in the circumstances of this case and equality of parties, this court is required to fashion a remedy which carries the lowest risk of injustice should the court later on find that it should not have issued the injunction in the first place,” ruled Justice Ongudi.
A succession suit pending before the court for the estate of Mr Thuo pits Susan Wanjiru and her two sons against Mr Thuo's other family over the validity of the Will purportedly left behind by Mr Thuo.
Mr Thuo had entrusted the will to his driver, who had kept it in his car.
They filed an objection to the petition for the grant of execution of the will filed by Mr Waiharo Harison Ngeta and Nahashon Mahugu Kibiri, who were named the executors of the will.
The disputed will listed a number of properties valued at Sh1 billion, which he distributed among the beneficiaries that are his wives and children.
Some of the properties include Abbey resort in Nakuru city, Abbey house in Nairobi, commercial buildings in Nakuru city, prime parcels of land in Nakuru, Gilgil, Muranga, and Nairobi.
However, his wife, Susan, and her two children, Nixon and Judy, contested the Will, which they suspected to have been manipulated.
