The High Court has barred an author from proceeding with a biography of former Cabinet minister William Ronkorua ole Ntimama, pending the hearing and determination of a dispute over the book.
The court issued the orders against Patu Santoo ole Naikumi after Ntimama’s children and administrators of his estate accused him of hijacking the project and attempting to publish the book without their consent.
Lydia Ntimama and Amos Ntimama argued that, as administrators of their late father’s estate, they are the rightful owners of all copyrights relating to his biography and related works.
Late William ole Ntimama daughte Ms Lydiah Ntimama.
Photo credit: Robert Kiplagat | Nation Media Group
“Consequently, I am persuaded that the balance of convenience tilts in favour of the applicants,” the court ruled.
The judge said the administrators had demonstrated that they stood to suffer irreparable harm that could not be adequately compensated through damages if the author was not restrained from proceeding with the project.
“For avoidance of doubt, the respondent is hereby restrained from proceeding in any manner with the working on the manuscript, the subject of these proceedings, or the publication of the same pending the hearing and determination of this suit,” the court said.
Lydia and Amos moved to court seeking orders restraining Mr Naikumi from using a manuscript and confidential information allegedly obtained from them and the Ntimama family to author a book or any article relating to their father’s biography before the case is determined.
They also sought orders stopping him from interfering with their efforts to finalise Ntimama’s autobiography.
Former cabinet minister William ole Ntimama speaks to a reporter during an interview at his home in Nairobi on July 28, 2016.
Photo credit: Martin Mukangu | Nation Media Group
The court heard that about 10 years before his death, Ntimama commissioned Maasai Mara University to undertake the writing of his autobiography.
Following his death in 2016, his children sought to complete the project. They obtained an unfinished manuscript from the university and planned to finalise it in order to preserve his legacy and vision.
According to the administrators, they later engaged Mr Naikumi on a voluntary and non-remunerative basis to assist in the project.
Based on that understanding, they shared the unfinished manuscript and other materials relating to Ntimama’s personal life. They also granted him access to his archives to retrieve information relevant to the autobiography.
However, they claimed that Mr Naikumi failed to deliver the chapters he had been assigned to write.
Lydia told the court that the author later sought financial support for assignment-related expenses such as internet access and printing. She said the family provided him with between Sh5,000 and Sh7,000 weekly to facilitate his work.
Despite the support, she claimed, he declined to hand over the relevant chapters of the manuscript and instead demanded Sh1 million and a 20 per cent royalty from future book sales.
The family rejected the demands, arguing that there was no such an arrangement.
They further alleged that Mr Naikumi went ahead and circulated a cover page of a book titled “A Biography of William Ronkorua Ole Ntimama: A Maa Polymath, Titan & Maverick – An Icon of Resilience, Architect of Maa Renaissance” in the Maa Unity Agenda WhatsApp group, where it was advertised for sale at Sh3,000.
Former Heritage minister and Maasai defender William ole Ntimama was in his element a few minutes before he died in his bed on September 1, 2016 at his Olchoro home in Narok County. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
In response, the family issued a statement distancing itself from the publication and stating that Mr Naikumi had no authority to co-author or publish the book.
According to the administrators, the author later informed them that he had completed the biography and forwarded the manuscript to an Indian publishing firm.
They argued that his actions were illegal and amounted to violations of data protection, intellectual property and succession laws. They maintained that they would suffer substantial losses if the court did not intervene.
Mr Naikumi denied the allegations and told the court that although the family had engaged several people to help complete the autobiography, the project stalled in 2016 due to a lack of support and funding.
He said Lydia approached him in March 2024 with a proposal that he write Ntimama’s autobiography and that he requested a formal agreement before commencing work.
According to him, the understanding was that the family would facilitate research and internet expenses. While Lydia supplied him with documents relating to her father’s life, he said he found much of the material unreliable.
As a result, he undertook independent research and insisted that the information supplied by the family did not feature in the book he was preparing.
Mr Naikumi told the court that the manuscript remains incomplete, although he has prepared a draft running to about 400 pages, excluding the material provided by the family.
He maintained that he had committed no wrongdoing and argued that the suit was intended to avoid paying him for services rendered.
The author denied demanding Sh1 million or attempting to tarnish Ntimama’s legacy. Instead, he claimed the administrators owed him Sh2.18 million for work already completed.
He further argued that the family failed to provide the necessary funding and ignored his correspondence, forcing him to proceed independently and pursue publication as an unauthorised biography in order to benefit from his labour.
