But that hasn't been the case, with his grandson Collins Kibet Toriotich Moi lodging a fight for the former president's billions.
Kibet is the eldest son of Jonathan Toroitich, Moi's firstborn son who died of pancreatic cancer on April 20, 2019. His son is now fighting for his share of the vast Moi estate estimated to be worth Sh300 billion.
But the fight for inheritance is not with the Mois alone. From Moi's successor Mwai Kibaki to former powerful Cabinet ministers Simeon Nyachae and John Michuki, relatives of former top public servants and business moguls are embroiled in legal battles for the wealth of the late power men.
Daniel arap Moi
The fight for Moi's billions has been exposed by his grandson Kibet and daughter in-law Milkah Faith Nyambura, who are both seeking a share of the former president's vast estate. Nyambura is one of the widows of Jonathan.
She accuses the Moi family of sidelining her children in the inheritance of Moi's wealth.
Besides Kibet and Nyambura, Moi's other grandchildren Fredrick Kibichi and April Jerop Moi have also moved to court seeking orders to have an audit or investigation firm hired to lay bare the magnitude of the wealth.
Like Kibet, Kibichi and Jerop are children of the late Jonathan.
The firm, they propose, should undertake an extensive probe, extending beyond Kenya, to come out with the truth to guide the distribution of the wealth to all beneficiaries.
Kibichi and April allege that the executrix of Moi’s estate, lawyer Zehrabhanu Janmohamed, has refused to produce a full and accurate inventory of the former president’s assets.
Kibet in his case filed at the Milimani law courts in Nairobi alleges that the value of his grandfather's wealth is over Sh300 billion.
Kibet says his grandfather's estate, which he terms “vast”, is spread across the world, including the United Kingdom, Australia and Malawi.
In his will that has been filed in court, Moi shared his wealth equally among his five sons: Jonathan, Raymond, John Mark, Philip and Gideon.
In case of death, such as that of Jonathan, Moi stated in the will that his children be bequeathed.
Mwai Kibaki
Kibaki was Moi's successor and the third President of Kenya, who served between 2002 and 2013. After his retirement, Kibaki enjoyed a relatively quiet life until his death on April 21, 2022, at the age of 90.
Like Moi, Kibaki left a will where he listed his four children Judy Wanjiku, Jimmy Kibaki, David Kagai and Anthony Githinji as heirs to his estate believed to be worth over Sh2 billion.
But a man has emerged demanding a share of the estate, claiming that Kibaki was his biological father.
Jacob Ocholla, 63, claims he was sired by Kibaki. Similar claims have been lodged by a woman codenamed JNL. They have both asked the court to order DNA tests to show they are children of the former head of state.
Kibaki's family, led by Judy, has since opposed their claims.
The High Court has set June 6 for the hearing of an application to have former Kibaki's remains exhumed for DNA analysis after talks between the two objectors and Kibaki's family collapsed.
Simeon Nyachae
After serving Kenya as an administrator, rising through the ranks and in politics to become the Head of Public Service and later a Cabinet minister, Nyachae breathed his last on February 1, 2021, at the age of 88.
Like his peers, Nyachae left a will detailing how his Sh2 billion estate would be shared.
But the execution of that will has been challenged in court by a US-based woman, Margaret Chweya, who claims she was married to Nyachae and that they had three children together.
Margaret has sued the Nyachae family for leaving her out of the inheritance.
The Nyachae family through the executors of the patriarch's estate—Charles Nyachae, Angela Nyachae and Eric Nyachae—have denied any connection between the family and Margaret and her children.
Margaret claims to have been customarily married to Nyachae in 1973 and that they had three children together—Chweya Rodney David, John Paul Chweya and Patricia Chweya.
She has since told the court that she attended Nyachae's funeral alongside her eldest son Rodney and that Charles, Nyachae's eldest son, recognised her during the burial and even referred to her as Mong'ina (mum).
John Michuki
John Njoroge Michuki is famously remembered for the Michuki Rules that restored order in public transport in 2004. His no-nonsense attitude helped him scale the ladder of leadership from a junior administrator to a Cabinet minister who wielded immense power.
Michuki was an astute businessman, leaving behind wealth in the region of Sh10 billion when he died on February 21, 2012.
His assets included several parcels of land and shares in various companies. Michuki also owned buildings and hotels in Nairobi including the Windsor Golf Club and Hotel in upmarket Ridgeways estate.
The fight for Michuki's wealth is between siblings, where daughter Yvonne Wanja has sued her sister Anne Mutahi and brother Fred Chege for mismanaging the multibillion-shilling estate.
Wanja, the last born child of the former Internal Security minister, wants his vast estate valued and that she receives a sixth of the property. The matter remains pending in court.
Tarlochan Singh Rai
He was an Indian businessman with vast interests in the East African economy. His family had close ties with the ruling elite in the Moi, Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta administrations.
They have interests in cement production (Rai Cement), edible oils and soaps (Menengai Oil Refineries), saw milling (Timsales, RaiPly and Webuye Panpaper), wheat farming, horticulture, sugar industry (West Kenya, which owns Kabras Sugar) and real estate (Tulip Properties).
The patriarch died on December 28, 2010, in Mumbai, India.
He is claimed to have left a will dated December 17, 1999, which listed Jaswant Rai, the chairman of Rai Group, as the executor.
Jaswant's two brothers Jasbir and Iqbal have teamed up with their mother Sarjij Kaur Rai in objecting to the will, saying the patriarch could have been coerced to craft the document that distributed his assets among his eight beneficiaries.
The three also challenged Jaswant’s push to get the court’s permission to administer the multibillion-shilling business that has a presence across East Africa, Malawi, India and London.
Sarjij had started giving evidence before the High Court when she died in January 2021. She and her two sons had asked the court to summon company secretaries of Rai Investments Ltd and have them produce documents, the company minutes, all board resolutions, and shares registered from 1992 and all other relevant company records.
Peter Mukuha
Naivas Supermarket chain founder Peter Mukuha died in 2010, leaving behind vast wealth that is at the centre of a fight amongst his children.
Simon Gachwe Mukuha had been appointed the estate administrator in 2016 but his death in 2019 opened a new warfront, with siblings Newton Kagira Mukuha, Grace Wambui Mukuha and David Kimani Mukuha separately filing cases before the Nakuru High Court to be installed as the estate administrator-cum-executor.
Jackson Kibor
Prominent Eldoret-based businnesman-cum-politician Jackson Kibor was rich in both laughter and wealth, with his estate estimated to be worth Sh16 billion.
Kibor,who died on March 16, 2022 aged 88, had named his fourth wife Yunita Kibor and lawyer Jonah Keter as executors of his will.
But when they moved to court to adopt it, objectors including Kibor's other widows, sons and daughters emerged. Kibor left a vast estate including thousands of acres of agricultural land in the North Rift region, real estate, business premises in major towns of Eldoret, Nairobi and Nakuru, movable assets and bank deposits, among others.
Two of his widows and sons are among the 27 people listed as objectors. They claim the Will may have been tampered with to favour Yunita in the distribution of the assets.
Njenga Karume
He was another powerful Cabinet minister during the Moi and Kibaki regimes. He died on February 24, 2012, leaving behind the management of his vast estate in the hands of trustees.
Karume's children Lucy Karume, Jane Mukuhi and Samuel Wanjema have accused close relatives in the Njenga Karume Trust of mismanaging the estate and attempting to take away their father's property estimated to be worth Sh40 billion.
However, it is worth noting that not all Kenya's wealthiest public figures and business moguls have had their relatives fight for their wealth when they died.
Founding President Jomo Kenyatta, former Attorney General Charles Njonjo and businessman Naushad Merali are among those whose estates have not been marked by disputes.
A peak into their wills show they used various strategies to forestall conflict. For instance, Merali decreed that anyone disputing his will would get just a dollar from his estate.
