Love bloomed in US , flourished in Addis, withered in Tigoni
Courts
By
Kamau Muthoni
| Oct 23, 2025
On April 27, 2010, Peter Mburu Echaria walked into his lawyer Kamau Kuria’s office and signed a one-and-a-half-page will.
The former ambassador, in the will seen by The Standard, was clear from the first word that he wanted nothing to do with his ex-wife and children.
From his burial to the implementation of his will and inheritance, Echaria stated that he had closed his chapter with Priscilla Njeri Echaria and the children he had with her.
Echaria appointed his second wife, Dorothy Kavinya, to implement his wishes. He, however, directed that in the event she was unable or unwilling to do the task, his daughter, Mumbi Gemma, would take over.
He said that he wished that Kavinya and Gemma would dictate how he would be buried. Echaria, however, penned a caveat that his ex-wife and their children should not participate in burial preparations and ought to keep off his body.
“For avoidance of doubt, my former wife, Priscilla Njeri Echaria, and my children by her shall have nothing to do with my body or my funeral arrangements,” he wrote.
In his contested will, he left nothing to his former wife and their three children, as they had allegedly taken over some of his property when the court split it in 1987.
“Again, for avoidance of doubt, I declare that neither my former wife, Priscilla Njeri Echaria, nor my children by her will inherit my property since they have already taken some of my property and severed all contact with me since 1987,” the will reads in part.
He dictated that Kavinya and Gemma should split his wealth among themselves equally after paying his debts, funeral, and testamentary expenses.
“My trustee shall have power to appropriate any part of my estate in its actual condition or state of investment in or towards satisfaction or part satisfaction of any share in my estate at such value as my trustee shall reasonably decide and without the need to obtain any consent to such appropriation,” continued Echaria.
Njeri held a degree in social sciences from the University of Oregon, U.S.A. The two were blessed with three children – two born in the U.S.A. and the last one born in Kenya.
After she came back to Kenya, she was employed by the Ministry of Education in 1972 as an Education Officer. In 1980, she was promoted to Senior Education Officer. Njeri was then briefly employed by the Family Planning Association of Kenya. She retired in 1986 to pursue self-employment as a management consultant.
In his case, Echaria accused Njeri of deserting their matrimonial home, taking a large quantity of household goods and a car. He wanted them back in his case dated April 9, 1987.
At the High Court, Justice Frank Shields gave Njeri half of the Tigoni property. However, Sh400,000 was to be deducted for the goods and vehicle she had taken.
The court also gave the option to each party to buy the other out, and if that could not be achieved, the court ordered the farm to be sold and the proceeds shared.
Echaria appealed.
Justices Phillip Tunoi, Erastus Githinji, Phillip Waki, Emmanuel O’Kubasu, and William Deverell finally directed that Njeri gets 30 acres. They, however, reduced it to 25, as she would get the farmhouse and outer buildings. They said that the value of the buildings was the equivalent of five acres.