They say the rich also cry but were it not for numerous court cases, drug smuggling allegations, business rivalry, deportations and even deaths, maybe the Akashas could still be one happy family.
With a likely jail sentence or worse life imprisonment, the Akasha brothers, who are accused of drug trafficking, conspiracy to defeat extradition and conspiracy to use guns in their drug trafficking business, will know their fate at a US court on March 15.
Consequently, grandsons to the late drug baron Ibrahim Akasha have now renewed calls to have the multi-billion property case pitting the family to be expedited.
They fear they will be rendered penniless, if reports that their uncles have entered to plea bargaining with the New York City court, is anything to go by.
Some of Kamaldin Akasha’s children want the court to give them their share of their father’s empire. The Akasha brothers, Ibrahim and Baktash, and two foreigners, Gulam Hussein and Vijaygiri Goswami had pleaded guilty to the charges, and are said to have agreed on the surrender some of their family property worth billions of shillings.
Abdulsalam, who has filed the matter on behalf of the siblings, want the court to stop his step mother, Dalal Juma, and uncle Nargis Akasha from being the administrators of the estate.
Last month, the court directed Nagis and Dalal to file their response in the case. Justice Thande Mugure instructed the defendants to file their response within 30 days, which is now in two weeks.
feared and untouchable
In the petition filed in late December, and mentioned in early January, Abdulsalam said the administrators have been enriching themselves with properties, some of which is left out in the will.
This might render the once most feared and untouchable family broke.
The move by some of the family members seeking to get its share has been interpreted as a way of trying to salvage the situation before the reality dawns, when the US gets hold of the properties.
Kamaldin, who is the second born to Akasha, was shot dead in 2002 by unknown people at a Makupa refuelling station.
Prior to his death, Kamaldin and his step brothers had been involved in a family feud after the death of their father, Ibrahim. He was killed in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Abdulsalam now wants the court to hand over to him the powers to administer their father’s wealth.
Dissatisfied with the manner in which his father’s estate has been handled since his death, he says his step-mother and uncle do not have powers to the estate.
He also wants the court to direct the Mombasa land registrar to place a restriction on some of the assets he suspects have been earmarked to be sold by his step-mother and uncle.
They include two parcels in Shanzu and a petrol station in Makupa.
Abdulsalam said his step-mother and uncle have refused to reveal the details of the properties and have continued to administer the estate in a non-transparent manner. He further said his step-mother is not entitled to a share of the estate as she is currently married to Hassan Akasha since 2003.
slipped away
However, Dalal, Kamaldin’s second wife said the properties mentioned by the applicant belonged to the late Ibrahim Akasha and not his father, Kamaldin.
In her response to the suit, she said her late husband had only one property in Bombolulu, where they have been residing since his death in 2002.
Dalal added that proceeds from rentals on the property are shared equally among the siblings.
The Akashas dealt in real estate, houses, businesses, cars among others, but most of it slipped away from their hands, following the woes.
The few remaining Akasha properties that are out in public knowledge include two palatial homes near Voyager and another near Nyali Beach Hotel in Mombasa.