A Nakuru High Court has appointed David Kimani Mukuha and Grace Wambui Mukuha as the new administrators of the multi-billion Naivas Estate.
The two take over the administration from their late brother Simon Gachwe Mukuha who passed on August 26, 2019.
The decision comes after three siblings, Kimani, Wambui and Newton Kagira Mukuha differently filed civil cases before him, each seeking to be named the administrator.
The first to seek orders establishing himself as an administrator was Kagira in August 2022, followed by Wambui in November 2023 and finally, Kimani filed his suit in January this year.
On August 4, 2022, Kagira filed a summons for revocation of the grant issued to Gachwe while Wambui filed a summons for rectification of the grant on May 26, 2023.
She later filed a summons for revocation of the grant dated November 16, 2023, and withdrew her earlier application.
Kagira observed that the grant issued was rendered useless upon Gachwe’s death and further claimed that the three beneficiaries had consented to him being appointed the administrator of the estate and the executor of his father’s will.
Kagira said his brother died before completely administering his father’s estate adding that the property risked being wasted if he was not established as the administrator.
On Monday, Justice Heston Nyaga who had earlier in the hearing suggested joint administration of the estate of the late Peter Mukuha Kago appointed Kimani and Wambui in a bid to unite and satisfy the divided family.
“The family is divided into two factions with a majority supporting Kimani, however, that support does not give him a higher right,” said the judge.
He said each faction must be represented in administrating the estate to cater for their varied interests.
The family patriarch and the founder of the Naivas chain of supermarkets, Peter Kago Mukuha died on May 6, 2010, and the mantle was taken over by Gachwe after a protracted court battle with one of his siblings.
Gachwe was appointed the administrator of the estate and executor of his father’s will on October 6, 2016, but he died before he completed distributing the properties.
The judge revoked the grant issued to Gachwe, installed Kimani and Wambui as co-administrators and ordered them to complete the administration.
Justice Nyaga reminded the duo to respect their father’s will as he had included all his nine children as beneficiaries of his vast estate.
The court dismissed Kagira’s application to be an administrator noting that he had his cases against his late brother Gachwe were still pending in the court of appeal.
