Judge ends three-decade battle for prime estate between two women

When High Court Judge Helene Namisi sat to determine a 31-year-old epic succession battle over a multi-million-dollar wealth left behind by Monicah Wamaitha Kihara, perhaps one intriguing but ironic twist to the case was that it was an all-women war that fell under her pen.

She, however, noted that the fight between Teresiah Wanjiku Njoroge with Irene Wambui Kimani was a sad but meandering third-generation fight over wealth claimed to be more than Sh500 million.

Also at the heart of the case was the famous Mombasa’s Three Coins hotel.

Wambui died three decades ago, on September 30, 1993. A year later, her sons, who were the original players in the case, filed the succession case and took over the estate as the administrators.

The two equally died as they were still fighting, and their widows took over the fight.  However, one of them was ruled out by the court for meddling with the estate.

The two widows left the scene, and in came their daughters, who the judge observed were old and frail in health but seeking to have the case settled.

The long and short of the dispute is that their sister-in-law, Wanjiku, was opposed to them inheriting anything on account that they were married.

“The Court’s duty, therefore, is not just to the living, whose infirmity was apparent on the record, but to the memory of the Deceased, whose estate has remained unquiet for 31 years. Justice delayed is justice denied, and this Court must now cut the Gordion knot of this familial dispute,” said Justice Namisi.

Wamaitha was one of the two wives of the late James Kihara Njoroge, who died in 1984.

The patriarch had a will, leaving his two wives, Cecilia Wangari and Wamaitha, his wealth, after which they were required to share it among their 12 children.

After his death, a court battle between Wambui and Cecilia Wangari Kihara emerged over 15 acres of land in Kikambara. The Malindi- Mombasa Highway is said to have cut through the land.

Wamaitha had six children: Irene Wambui, Caroline Wambui, Margaret Wanja, Alice Wanjiku, John Njoroge, and Ngugi Kihara. Her two sons have since died.

In the case, Njoroge was being represented by his widow, Teresiah Wanjiku, while Ngugi was being represented by his widow, Rachel Wanjiru.

However, Wanjiru died, leaving Ngugi’s house to be represented by their children, Monicah Wamaitha and Kevin Kihara.

On one hand, Wambui told the court that they had several meetings on how to share the wealth, but Wanjiku allegedly refused to sign the agreement. She argued that the contention was the source of the wealth and justification for the proposed distribution.

She claimed that all the properties emanated from Kihara, who had allegedly orally dictated that Wangari and Wamaitha should distribute whatever he left to them to their children.

She claimed that the distribution would not be equal as there were gifts left for be sons.

According to her, Wanjiku had received and sold 25 acres land in Juja and they had another one in Kabete.  In addition, she testified that Ngugi’s wife received and sold a property in Changamwe, for Sh 2.8 million.

When asked why they were giving Wanjiku less, she claimed that the Juja farm was more expensive than the Three Coins.

Wanjiku, on the other hand, said that the distribution was unfair and that the land in Kabete was not clan land but an inheritance by her late husband from his grandfather.

Further, she claimed that when Kihara died, he left a will dictating that only boys would inherit from him.

She said that the reason behind the ‘boys only affair’ was that her sisters in law had been married for more than 50 years and ought not to have come back to take what their late father had left.

According to her, the properties they had taken in Mombasa were prime, and in the Central Business District, estimated to be around Sh 500 million. Wanjiku also told the court that the Juja farm and Kabete ones were gifts.

“These ones were given to my husband directly. I do not want him to share with his sisters,” she argued.

On the Three Coins, she claimed it was owned by Ngugi’s wife, Wanjiru and was not part of Wamaitha’s wealth, a position which was taken by his daughter Wanjiru.

Justice Namisi faulted Wanjiku on the right of girls to inherit from their father. She said that the Constitution does not make a distinction between a male and a female child.

“The Protestor’s foundational legal argument is, therefore, rejected. The Deceased’s daughters are rightful beneficiaries entitled to inherit from their mother’s estate on an equal legal footing with her son. This ground of protest is dismissed,” said Justice Namisi.

On Juja farm, Kabete and Wangige properties, the Judge said that there was a ruling indicating that they belonged to Wamaitha and were not a gift to Wanjiku’s husband as alleged. She was of the view that the verdict had not been appealed or overturned.

However, Justice Namisi found that Three Coins belonged to Ngugi as it was an extension made to his house, hence, it was not part of his late mother’s wealth.

She said that the succession process could not be stalled by one person. She said that Wambui’s argument that Juja farm was more valuable than Three Coins had not been challenged.

“The protestor cannot seek equity without doing equity. This objection is a transparent delay tactic and is dismissed,” she continued.

She also threw out Wanjiku’s argument that everything should be shared equally. According to her, the demand was a ‘double dip’ as she had already benefited from part of the estate.

Wambui on the other hand, proposed that each person should get where they had possessed, developed and claimed.

Then, she suggested that the remaining untouched properties ought to be distributed to the four daughters, adding that they had waited for three decades as their brothers’ families benefited from the estate.