Mr Collins Kibet Toroitich Moi, the controversial grandson of the late President Daniel Moi shot into the public eye in 2016 when he was arraigned for allegedly stealing his daughter’s mobile phones.
The son of Mzee Moi’s eldest son Jonathan Toroitich was charged with stealing two mobile phones belonging to his daughter May Chelimo, in a case that was later resolved out of court after it emerged that it stemmed from the family’s internal wrangles.
Before the dust could settle, the Moi scion again hit the headlines for another scandal in 2018, when his girlfriend was allegedly detained at a high-end hotel in Eldoret over a Sh100,000 bill.
The woman, identified as Marsha Dee Amario, the daughter of the late maverick Naivasha tycoon and winemaker Fai Amario, was detained for a week after Collins allegedly sneaked out of the hotel and left her stranded with the bill.
What caught the attention of the public, however, is the child support case in a Nakuru court, where Collins opened up about his financial status and inability to support his two children, aged 11 and nine.
The case, filed by a woman identified as Gladys Jeruto Tagi, sought to have Collins pay Sh1 million monthly for the children’s maintenance.
However, his offer to pay for the children’s NHIF health insurance and the proposal for them to attend public primary schools in Eldama Ravine opened the lid on his financial struggles.
In his court papers, Collins claimed to be a poor man who did not have any source of income and only depended on friends and relatives for survival.
He told the court that he had recently been discharged from a rehabilitation centre for alcohol addiction after suffering from depression.
“As a result of my depression diagnosis and the resultant loss of business thereof, my personal finances have been greatly affected to the point where I depend on the goodwill of my friends and relatives to meet my immediate needs,” said Collins.
These revelations, however, attracted scorn and attacks from the court of public opinion. Many Kenyans could not understand how a grandson of a former President whose family is considered among the wealthiest could only manage basic support for his own children.
Scrutinising his early life provides a picture of a man who enjoys life in the fast lane with a preference for the finer things in life.
“He used to live in a huge apartment in Lavington, Nairobi, where he paid at least Sh200,000 monthly. He also drove a Toyota Land Cruiser V8 and ran a number of companies and businesses,” said a friend.
But the Nation has established that Collins' problems began sometime in 2016, after the death of his mother Nelly Cherogony and the deteriorating health of his father Jonathan and that of Mzee Moi.
Sources privy to his life say Collins enjoyed much support from the two, to whom he was very close.
His businesses started failing while he slumped into depression, which led him into alcoholism.
The death of his father in 2019 and subsequent death of his grandfather in 2020 was another blow to him when it ushered in another battle for inheritance with his stepmothers.
In his case in the family division court in Nairobi, Collins claims that assets had been irregularly transferred in plans to disinherit him.
He accuses lawyer Zehrabanu Janmohammed, the administrator of Moi’s estate worth over Sh340 billion, of planning to conceal several assets spanning at least three countries.
Ms Janmohammed, he claims, had ignored requests for financial assistance, information on the administrator’s appointment and her dealings with the estate since October 10, 2020 when the High Court granted her management authority.
“I now live under constant and imminent fear of being rendered homeless,” Collins says in court papers.
And last Friday, Justice Aggrey Muchelule allowed Collins to battle it out with Ms Janmohammed and family members, who are in agreement with the former President’s will.
Collins was born in 1977, the eldest son of Jonathan Moi and Nelly Cherogony.
He lived with his maternal grandfather for four years before joining his father’s family in Kabimoi.
In 2000 he moved to the US for higher education, training as a pilot before returning to Kenya in 2006 to help his father in campaigns for the Eldama Ravine parliamentary seat in 2007, which he lost.
He owned a number of businesses, including a clearing and forwarding company. They collapsed with the death of his godfathers.
A source intimated that he sold some of his belongings, including his vehicle, and relocated to Kawangware from Lavington after running out of finances.
“He is currently jobless and is only trying to survive,” said the source.
