Why Karugu's daughter is seeking to join forgery case over multi-billion estate Will
Crime and Justice
By
Nancy Gitonga
| Mar 17, 2026
The daughter of the late former Attorney General James Boro Karugu has moved to court seeking to be joined as an interested party in a petition filed by six individuals facing forgery charges related to her father's multi-billion-shilling estate
Victoria Nyambura Karugu, who is also the complainant in the underlying criminal case, filed a joinder application before Justice Bahati Mwamuye of the Constitutional and Human Rights Division of the High Court at Nairobi.
In her application, Nyambura told the court she has a direct and personal stake in the proceedings, describing herself as a victim of the alleged fraud perpetrated by the petitioners, who include her own siblings and associates, who she says conspired to disinherit Karugu's children through forged estate documents.
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"The Intended Interested Party Applicant has a stake and personal interest in these proceedings, as a victim of the fraud perpetrated by one of her brothers, namely Eric Mwaura Karugu and other petitioners," her lawyer Philip Murgor told Justice Mwamuye.
Nyambura's application was not opposed by the state. Both the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Attorney General, listed as Respondents respectively, informed Justice Mwamuye that they had no objection to her participation in the case.
Despite the development, Justice Mwamuye extended conservatory orders shielding the six accused persons, including Karugu’s son, Eric Mwaura Karugu, from prosecution until April 21, 2026, when the matter is expected to be heard.
The petition at the centre of the dispute was filed by lawyers William Kimani Richu and Peter Mbuthia Gachuhi, Jane Wangechi Kabiu, described as Karugu's Company Secretary, Eliud Mwaura Gatambia, and Pastor Joshua Mwaura Kimani of the Full Gospel Churches of Kenya in Nyandarua.
The six are challenging the intended criminal prosecution, which stems from allegations that they falsified key documents in the estate of the late James Boro Karugu, who served as Kenya's Attorney General from 1980 to 1981.
Karugu died in November 2022 at his Kiamara farm. Weeks after his burial, a will dated April 2, 2014, and a trust deed establishing the JBK Foundation were presented to family members at a hotel in Kiambu.
Nyambura disputed the authenticity of the documents from the outset, insisting they were unknown during her father's lifetime and only surfaced after his death under suspicious circumstances.
"The documents were never known during my father's lifetime. They only emerged posthumously," she has maintained.
Her complaints triggered a Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) probe that culminated in forgery charges against the six individuals now seeking constitutional protection from prosecution.
Investigators allege the suspects were involved in falsifying the will dated April 2, 2014, and the trust deed establishing the JBK Foundation, presented weeks after Karugu's burial, in a bid to manipulate the distribution of his estate.
The state says the suspects manipulated key documents, including the last will and the trust deed, in a deliberate attempt to disinherit Karugu's biological children from the multi-billion-shilling estate.
The matter is also linked to High Court Succession Cause No. E916 of 2023, In the Matter of the Estate of James Boro Karugu (Deceased), where Nyambura is listed as an objector, and to Criminal Case against her Wangechi and her two brothers, Eric Mwaura Karugu and Benjamin Githara Karugu, pending before Milimani Chief Magistrate's Court.
The case now returns to court on April 21, 2026, when the High Court is expected to determine whether the prosecution can proceed and potentially rule on Nyambura's application to formally join the proceedings as an interested party.