On April 18, 2023, the family of former Cabinet Minister Mbiyu Koinange gathered at a 640-acre farm in Kiambu County for a landmark process – part distribution of his multibillion-shilling estate.
At Ehothia Farm, title deeds for some of Mr Koinange’s properties were being handed to the 12 beneficiaries listed in a distribution formula issued by the then-High Court judge Aggrey Muchelule.
Mr George Kihara, a son of the once powerful minister, was expected to receive a couple of title deeds on the day.
Mr Kihara was present. But he was not alone. He was in the company of Ms Salome Wanjiru, a woman that court filings identify as a “prophetess and intercessor”.
When Ms Wanjiru spotted Mr Kihara’s wife, Lydiah Mbithe, she swiftly disappeared into a vehicle with a group of men.
That is the version of events presented to the High Court by Ms Mbithe, who has now asked the High Court to block her husband from selling or using his share of the Koinange family billions as loan security without her spousal consent.
In a court application that could further define wealth distribution in succession matters, Ms Mbithe claims that her husband has been brainwashed using religion, and could be planning to cede his inheritance to Ms Wanjiru and the unnamed church he has been part of since mid-2018.
“My husband confessed to me that he is an elder in the said church. Sometime in December 2022, he disappeared from home and returned after a few days claiming to have been on a safari to Lamu, Taita Taveta, Nanyuki and Kilimambogo for prayers.
At one time my husband disappeared for several days only to reappear and claim to have gone to Mwiki for prayers and that the only way to get a breakthrough was by praying away from home where I would not interfere,” Ms Mbithe says in court papers.
When Justice Muchelule ruled that Mr Koinange’s wealth be shared among 12 beneficiaries, many thought that his decision would bring to an end the family feud that has haunted Kenya’s courtrooms for four decades.
In his judgment, Justice Muchelule walked a tightrope as he considered that only some of the family properties could be shared equally.
A section of Mr Koinange’s kin had settled on family land for years and even developed those portions, which Justice Muchelule put into consideration in coming up with a distribution formula.
Many of the assets are to be sold and equally distributed among 12 beneficiaries who include Mr Koinange’s children and grandchildren unless the Court of Appeal agrees with a challenge to Justice Muchelule’s 2020 decision.
George is the third-born from Mr Koinange’s first wife, Loise Njeri Mbiyu. He has four siblings – David Njunu, Paul Mbatia, Mary Wambui and Elizabeth Waruinu. The only daughters from that home are both deceased, and their children are set to inherit some of Mr Koinange’s wealth on behalf of their parents.
Ms Mbiyu, the matriarch, is also deceased.
The second home was established when Mr Koinange married Ruth Damaris Mbiyu, who is now deceased. The children in that home are David Waiganjo, Lennah Wanjiku, Isaac Njunu, Solomon Kihara (deceased) and Florence Wanjiku (deceased).
Mr Koinange also married Margaret Njeri Mbiyu and Eddah Wanjiru Mbiyu but had no children with either of the two women.
March 4, 1964: Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta, and the Commonwealth Secretary, Mr Duncan Sandys, meet for two hours in Nairobi. They discussed matters of "mutual interest," a Kenya Government spokesman said. Also present were government ministers and officials. Here from left the Minister of State for Pan African Affairs, Mr Mbiyu Koinange, Premier Kenyatta and Mr Sandys waving to the crowd outside the premier’s office during the occasion.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
The billions are set to start flowing into the accounts of the 12 beneficiaries any time now, as the Court of Appeal has not issued orders suspending Justice Muchelule’s judgment or distribution formula.
But as Appellate judges grapple with the latest challenge to the distribution of the estate, one of Mr Koinange’s sons has found himself in the eye of a storm that poses a fresh question to Kenya’s courts on succession law.
Ms Mbithe is adamant that her husband has fallen into the hands of fraudsters eyeing his share of the estate.
Ms Mbithe has filed an application in the 42-year-old succession file, arguing that the High Court ought to stop Mr Kihara from forfeiting his inheritance to an unnamed church whose members are allegedly trying to swindle him.
In her affidavit, Ms Mbithe holds that the men who were with Ms Wanjiru at Ehothia farm have also been accompanying Mr Kihara everywhere and that they are holding the Koinange kin against his will.
“My husband’s phone is in the total control of the prophetess who answers the calls at times or switches it off at will,” Ms Mbithe claims in court papers.
Ms Mbithe has filed a copy of a marriage certificate showing that she married Mr Kihara at Ridgeways Baptist Church on December 18, 2010.
The couple has three children, all of who are minors. Two of the children were born before the couple’s church wedding.
Ms Mbithe claims that her husband’s dalliance with Ms Wanjiru started in mid-2018 and now threatens to break her home.
She adds that Mr Kihara in 2020 attempted to secretly sell family assets without her consent and under Ms Wanjiru’s influence, prompting her to place sale and loan security conditions on the inheritance.
“In the year 2020 I was informed that my husband together with the prophetess had attempted to sell one of our family properties and I am yet to know the details of the attempted sale. I am afraid that my husband who is now 73 years of age is being controlled and manipulated by the prophetess and her associates in the guise of religion yet they are wolves in sheep’s clothing. I believe that my husband has been brainwashed and is being held hostage by the said prophetess and her associates against his will,” Ms Mbithe adds in court papers.
She insists that prior to being involved with Ms Wanjiru, theirs was a happy marriage.
“I fear for myself and my children as my husband is in an unknown place with strangers who have isolated him from the family … I am very worried about my husband’s health as he suffers from hypertension and might not be taking his medicines as instructed by the doctor,” she adds.
Ms Mbithe filed the application on May 8, 2023. There were no responses to her application by the time of going to press.
Among the documents also filed in court are letters exchanged between Ms Mbithe’s lawyers and Mr Kihara’s lawyers.
On March 16, 2023, Ms Mbithe’s lawyers, Catherine Muruiki & Company Advocates, wrote to the Njoro Deputy County Commissioner to complain about Ms Wanjiru’s presence on the farm after seeing the alleged prophetess on site giving instructions to workers.
D.K. Thuo & Company Advocates then wrote to Ms Mbithe’s lawyers. In the letter, D.K. Thuo said it represents Mr Kihara.
The law firm added that Ms Wanjiru is Mr Kihara’s wife hence her presence on Muthera Farm was not strange or malicious.
Aside from the alleged erratic behaviour patterns, Ms Mbithe claims that Mr Kihara has abandoned her and the children who have now been evicted from their Sh150,000-a-month house in Thome estate, Nairobi County.
She has attached as evidence a letter from a property agent, which states that Mr Kihara owed Sh200,000 in rent.
“After my husband deserted us, he abandoned his responsibilities which led me to incurring school fees arrears and being evicted from the house we leased. This has affected the children tremendously as they were used to that environment. It is sad that to date he has never been bothered to know how the children and I survive,” she adds.
Her husband was last at home on February 21, 2023, the court papers show.
