Battle for James Kanyotu’s billions rages on

From left: Lawyers James Njiha, Peter Munge and Judy Thong'ori, representing children of the late spymaster James Kanyotu, discuss at the High Court on March 14, 2015 about the case in which the children are seeking control of their father's empire. PHOTO | PAUL WAWERU | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Kanyotu invested in properties spread across the country including three investment companies – Half Moon, Full Moon and Cloud Limited.
  • The estate is administered by his widows Mary Wanjiku Kanyotu, Jane Gathoni Muraya Kanyotu, and Margaret Nyakinyua Murigu.  

Ten years after the sudden death of long-serving spymaster James Kanyotu, the High Court is yet to decide how his estate will be divided amongst his widows and children.

The biggest stumbling block in finalising the case remains the determination of who were the biological children of the late Kanyotu.

Of great interest will be the court’s findings pertaining to the fate of one Willy Kihara Njoki, who was found not to have been fathered by Mr Kanyotu through a DNA test, but remains adamant that he indeed is his biological son.

Now Mr Kihara has filed a new application with the court seeking to stop all transactions involving the Kanyotu estate.

BUSINESSES
Mr Kanyotu, who died on March 2008, is estimated to have been worth over Sh20 billion.

He invested in properties spread across the country including three investment companies – Half Moon, Full Moon and Cloud Limited.

The estate is administered by his widows Mary Wanjiku Kanyotu, Jane Gathoni Muraya Kanyotu, and Margaret Nyakinyua Murigu.  

Mr Kihara says in his application to the court that he is owed Sh60 million as proceeds from a sale of Kiawakanja land in Kiambu that was sold for Sh950 million.

“The administrators of the estate of James Kanyotu have on several occasions distributed sale proceeds amongst themselves and their children without caring about me.

"Maybe because the fourth wife (Florence Njoki) is not represented in the administration of the deceased’s estate,” he said.

SHARES
He claims that he has not received his fair share of the estate, but on May 2016 the administrators of the estate sent an emissary to him with the aim of resolving the succession issue that has now been pending for 10 years.

After the mediators’ visit, Sh26 million was wired to him with a promise of a further Sh39 million if he complied with the conditions laid “by the administrators in cohort with other persons interested in the estate but not party to the proceedings”.

Prior to this meeting, Mr Kihara had been questioning transactions in regard to the estate.

Among them being disposal of shares belonging to the late Kanyotu worth more than Sh2.1 billion that he alleges were transferred three days after the death of the former spymaster.

He stopped questioning the sale and irregular transfer of several pieces of land worth hundreds of millions belonging to the estate of Mr Kanyotu.

“Soon after I stopped meddling in the above questionable and illegal transactions, the administrators facilitated the payment of the balance of my share amounting to Sh39m,” he adds.

DNA TEST
He says the estate of Mr Kanyotu has lost in excess of Sh10 billion since he died.

He asks the court to compel the administrators to give a true picture of the estate of the late Kanyotu.

Despite his sensational claims in the affidavit that are not backed by annexures to prove his assertions, Mr Kihara  has refused to undergo a second DNA test after he disowned a previous one that had indicated that he was not Kanyotu's son.

In 2014, the court ordered all the children to undergo DNA tests to ascertain that Mr Kanyotu was their father.

At the end of the tests, doctors found that that Grace Nyawira, Christine Wangari, Stephanie Njeri, George Irungu, Rose Nyawera, Christopher Ngata, John Kariuki, Sandra Gathoni and George Samuel Kimondo had a common father (Kanyotu).

CHILD
But in a strange twist, the first wife of Mr Kanyotu, Mary Wanjiku, with whom they married in 1961, said she recognised Mr Kihara, born in 1970, as a son of her fallen husband.

“Mr Kanyotu brought up Kihara just like his other children and I am also aware that Kihara and his late mother received financial and other support from my late husband.

It is no secret to neighbours, relatives that Kihara is a child of my late husband.

“Mr Kanyotu had built them a house a few metres from mine long before his mother’s demise,” she averred.

She says that anyone rejecting Mr Kihara could be having ulterior motives. Another widow Margaret Nyakinyua Murigu also states that Mr Kihara is a son of Kanyotu.

Mr David Irungu Kienje, a former intelligence officer assigned to Kanyotu, said he used to take Mr Kihara to Loresho Primary School as a young boy.

Ms Wanjiku’s sons John and Christopher Kanyotu, in their affidavits, believe that Mr Kihara is not a biological son of their father.