• Five siblings have fought in court for a share of their father’s Sh15 billion empire, accuse one sibling-administrator of excluding the others.
• Agreed to equally share the undisputed properties.
The family of Mombasa tycoon Jaswant Singh Boor has finally agreed to equally share some of his estate worth more than Sh15 billion.
Boor died in 2004 without a will, leaving his family fighting for a share of the empire.
For 15 years, one sibling, Daljit Singh Dhanjal, has been the sole administrator of his estate, which the others resented.
The other four siblings are Jaspal Kaur Nagi, Joginder Singh Dhanjal, Surjit Singh Dhanja and Sukwant Kaur Dhanjal Kundi .
But the siblings have now consented to share equally the properties which are not in dispute
The 18 undisputed properties include buildings, businesses and bank accounts spread across Kenya and the UK.
They include the shares in Dhanjal Brothers Ltd, Express Holdings Ltd, Whitehard Holdings Ltd, Marry Field (UK) Ltd, Dhanjal Investment Ltd, among other properties and shares in companies in Kwale, Kilifi, Mombasa and 12 others in the UK.
The consent agreement, which was adopted as an order of the court, states that each of the five siblings will be entitled to their late father’s property in equal measure.
“The mode of distribution is that each of the beneficiaries will be entitled to a fifth share, less any money owed by any beneficiary to the estate,” Family court judge Mugure Thande said.
The siblings also consented to share the rest of the properties which are being disputed, after a hearing.
The properties which are said to have been interfered with will remain in court custody, pending the hearing and determination of the succession case filed in 2004.
Through their lawyers Christine Kipsang, Michael Oloo, Francis Kadima and Khalid Salim, the five siblings were also directed by the court to continue listing some of the properties which they might have left out in readiness for distribution.
The acting administrator could not explain the whereabouts of title deeds of some of the properties whose discharge letter he had failed to submit as ordered by the court.
Daljit informed judge Thande that he had borrowed a loan of Sh400 million from a bank and the debt had accumulated to more than Sh800 million.
Daljit was also accused of failing to hand over documents of some of the properties to the newly appointed administrators, Joginder and their sister Sukhwant.
The two had been appointed as new administrators and their brother Daljit ordered to hand over all documents relating to the estate to them.
The new administrators had accused Daljit of taking control of the estate and using it for his sole benefit while excluding his other siblings
They also accused Daljit of transferring some of the company shares to himself using “devious means, intimidation and coercion, thus leaving them languishing in poverty'.
The judge directed that he submit the letter of the properties he allegedly interfered with.
The judge is also expected to take oral evidence from the family to resolve the stand-off.
Judge Thande directed all the siblings to physically appear before the court and give testimony instead of relying on affidavits.
The hearing continues.
(Edited by O. Owino)