What happens when children kick their father out of the property he owned, or still owns, and start demanding rent?
That's what happened to German national Wilfred Gurnther and his two children Ronny Patric Herbert and Jeanie Notalie Boehlig.
The ailing man, who flew in from Germany, says he's homeless and penniless.
Gurnther has sued his children for allegedly fraudulently transferring his company shares to themselves and later evicting him from his apartment.
He claims his sons have locked him out of his Sh2 billion property after they transferred it to themselves fraudulently.
Gurnther said they took over Papillion Garden Bar Villa on Mombasa-Malindi Gurnther Highway, leaving him homeless and penniless.
The German is suffering from diabetes. He told judge P.J. Otieno that he feels his time on earth is ebbing away and, therefore, wants the matter expedited and concluded.
He said his health has been deteriorating.
“I want this matter concluded before I die. I have been undergoing treatment in Germany,” Gurnther said.
His lawyer Robinson Malombo told the court his client had just undergone surgery before flying to Kenya for the hearing.
But Otieno promised to conclude the matter as soon as possible.
He said the matter will be adjourned to Monday since Malombo sought to file more documents.
The foreign investor left Kenya for his home country in 1998 when he was charged with criminal offences and convicted.
Upon his release from prison, he flew back to Kenya in 2009 where he discovered that his company ownership had been transferred to his sons through a signed document which he claims he not aware of.
In the court documents, Gurnther said he was still the director of Hans Limited which he owns and that he has never signed any documents that would have indicated that he left the company.
He said he has never transferred his shares of the company to either his late ex-wife or children, sons contrary to their claims.
Gurnther maintains that the manner in which his children transferred the shares was through forgery and fraud, a process that led to his removal as the majority shareholder and his eviction from his apartment.
Later, the childrens sued him for failure to pay rent and obtained a court order for seizure of his property for the rent arrears.
But the children, through their lawyer Lawrence Obonyo, said their father ceased to be a shareholder when he sold his shares to their mother and transferred the rest to them before resigning.
They said their father signed the company resolution indicating the transfer of shares and his resignation.
They said his rent arrears had accumulated to Sh400,000.
Edited by R.Wamochie
